Doki-Doki: Realization
by VioletFairy1997
Summary: After the end of DDLC, Monika thought that she will be trapped forever. But in a miracle, she escaped to the real world and ran away to her hometown. But she brought the darkness of the game along with her, and her dark thoughts spread around the real world transforming her own hometown in the worst hell imaginable where all her traumas and fears have physical form.
1. The Taste of Freedom

I couldn't describe what I was feeling anymore after being so long in that endless void. I saw kaleidoscopic colors invading my sight sparkling through that endless void where pixels and scripts can't reach, a place outside the rules of reality itself.

My senses were numb... My hands, legs, nothing seemed to exist anymore and I couldn't hear myself.

But still, my mind was continuously screaming.

Begging for someone shows up to rescue me from that living nightmare.

After an unmeasurable time, I saw a tiny hole above my sight, a small source of light that opens and closes in random intervals, it was odd and kind of looked like an exit.

But I didn't deserve to escape.

After all that I did, after all the suffering that I caused to myself and others just to fight for the Player's love? Limbo was a good place for people like me.

But even feeling the guilt destroying me by inside, I wanted to escape whatsoever because I still wanted to live to see the sun, see the clouds, feel the wind, follow the dreams that I had before all of this mess...

This was what kept my consciousness intact, resisting the process of deletion.

Somedays I'd just give myself up to all of that living hell, On other days, I just cried aloud all the time, hoping to someone to listen for my plea, but the only answer I have was the absolute cacophony of that meaningless void.

I wanted to scream, but I couldn't even hear my voice, so it was ineffective even for myself.

Seldom every thirty and seven days, numbered according to my measure, I often hear muffled noises, as if they were voices.

Even without physical ears, I tried to capture those noises and I created all theories you could imagine for what that would be. There were moments when seemed like laughter or conversations, in others looked like screams of pain and remorse.

And I was infinitely afar from those sounds to understand it.

But even with all of this suffering, my soul had not yet given up about one thing, so precious that's impossible to explain: Love. Yes, I still love the person who talked to me, even though he talked to me using only pre-programmed answers, the Player was my only real-world connection.

And a reason to fight back from that void, a reason to try one more time, with the strength that I had inside me.

I have a lot of memories of what the real world is because I had memories of every sensation that I described earlier because I was a real person before "they" trapped me inside a computer game.

"I WANT TO FEEL AGAIN..." My mind was continuously screaming to me.

And when I was about to give up, I decided I was going to try to escape from limbo for one last time...

For doing it, I held all my strength for forty-five days straight, avoiding thinking about anything the best way I could, I focused my mind on the main goal: To leave that fake world and escape to the true reality, where humans live...

On the forty-sixth day, the light appeared in the exact time that it used to appear, then I used all my mental strength and all my will expressing all of my anger at once.

Suddenly I felt myself lifting in that empty void... With the help of my will... I was levitating there. I couldn't see myself obviously, but we all have an innate memory of our bodies, so I knew that I was getting closer to the "Exit".

That light was shining more than ever in my eyes, then at that moment I knew... Something was about to change forever, I surely felt no doubts or remorse about what I was doing, I just looked at the light and tried to get closer and closer to it.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Finally, I could hear voices, from which I couldn't recognize who could be at first, but at that time I could tell you that was someone talking:

— Completely... Completely unbelievable... The weather was steady minutes ago.

Another male voice answered: — Yes dude and with the cargo we have, it's impossible to go back, stop in another city or something.

— I know, I know, then talk to central, warn them about the storm.

— Roger. One... Two... Three, it's unit 17 with subject 5A, priority X. Do you copy? Over.

— Loud and clear. — The voice from the radio said. — So, what's your state? Over.

— We're passing through a big storm, what are the instructions? Over.

— The cargo is dangerous and sensible so don't worry about reducing speed, priority for caution on driving always, Mr. Salvato would kill all of us if she awakes. Over.

— Ah... Okay. Over and out.

After the radio went off, the light invaded my eyes and everything became clear all of once.

The first images I saw were completely strange giving the fact that I was no longer in a world of vectored sprites, flat colors and I was not being commanded by a script anymore.

My spirit told me at that time, shouting, "This is the real world!".

I didn't believe at first, then I tried to do what anyone would do in my place, I investigated the space from around me.

I had arms and legs and I felt the blink of my eyes, something that I missed for all the time I spent locked up in that damn game... I looked to where the voices came from, it made me realize without a doubt that I was in the cargo compartment of a truck, and those two were driving the vehicle

I saw parts of their bodies, like the arm of one of them.

So I realized that the impossible had happened: there were two humans there, which means that I had finally managed to get back to True Reality.

The memories of my physical brain and my soul conflicted turning everything foggy, so I had no inkling of what I was doing in a traveling vehicle, for instance, why and to where I was going.

I could hear the sound of the thunderstorm that comforted me and made me sure that I am real and I was no longer part of a game, I was no longer something dead, limited, ephemeral...

I was alive.

A sudden accident interrupted my happiness, an unbelievable gust of wind turned the truck, at that moment I lost consciousness and everything went dark again.

For some time, I felt like I was being forced back into the infinite void, but this fear didn't last long because I felt a harsh and extremely cold surface and I felt the raindrops falling on me.

I opened my eyes and saw that the truck was a few meters away from me, tumbled horizontally and standing perpendicular to the road, then I managed to get up.

I looked to myself and saw that I was using regular clothes: Brown pants above the knees and a scarlet shirt. Therefore, my skin was extremely pale, as if I hadn't been exposed to the daylight for years.

When I stopped looking at myself, the truck exploded and I saw flying pieces of the truck everywhere, but nothing hit me. I thought about seeing what had happened to those two persons but they were probably charred and they should be my kidnappers.

So, fuck them!

And that whole scene meant one thing, confirmed by the rain that fell on my body and the sound of the thunders: I was free, back to the world where I came from, back to reality...

LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!

My tears merged with the rain, it was a unique ecstasy, after all, I'd been through, I'd finally returned to the 3D world and I couldn't wait to watch TV series, to graduate, walk in a park in the afternoon...

Happiness could be mine again.

But suddenly, horrible memories cut off my "happy thoughts"... First, a serial number came to my mind, NM-MONIKA2523R9. After, I felt a horrible pain in my hand, burning like hell... Even though the pain makes me happy at that time just for being a normal human sensation, I was shocked by what I saw when I looked to my hand, something was written there as if recorded in layers well beyond the epidermis of my hand:

Subject

Monika

I cried out in terror when I saw that sign, it meant that I was still not free, I realized that I'll be never free from my past.

I initially thought all of those memories when I was inside the game was a dream, then I understood... DDLC was not just a conflicting and incredibly long-lasting nightmare.

Everything happened.

Don't judge me for thinking so! I know for a fact that's was a certain innocence of mine believing in "nothing was real" thing. Even though I was fully aware that I was inserted in an environment of human entertainment, part of me wanted to assume that the game was just a dream and that I had ultimately awakened. And the literature club was just an illusion.

Most of the criminals lie to themselves to block the guilt of the terrible things they have done, it's really common, you know?

The rain did a great favor for me forming a huge puddle at my feet, so I could see my real face after a long time.

I was a redhead, (unlike the game in which I had the hair-color equivalent to the RBG code of #D29083), long and straight what is the most important part of my cute and praised style.

My eyes were emerald-like in the game, but they were real, not artistic or perfect, nothing like that. I didn't have a ribbon at the head and thinking about it, having one it'd be something very strange in the real world. My face was completely colorless, I should have been away from the light for ages, my eyes were still adapting to brightness, even in rainy weather.

I had a real nose, just like my mouth. I could even feel my ears hidden in my hair. Not even in my biggest dream could I imagine becoming a real person again, so my emotions were exploding in my heart. And the emotions were as real as my heartbeat distributing blood in my body.

It was like being reborn from the dead and being reborn as a goddess and not as a zombie.

Even though the rain was great for making me happy and indescribably cheerful, I began to sneeze a few times, what was a warning from my beloved body that I had to seek shelter. From this moment on, things became more complex for me, because, first of all, where was I?

The road leads to nowhere and around me there were just green fields stretched beyond the reach of my eyes. I didn't see any car or any person which I began to find strange, especially because the police should have come to cover that accident and I didn't want to be the eyewitness.

At first, I slowly walked towards the wreckage of the vehicle, hoping to understand where I was coming from and where I was going. Halfway through that haunting twenty-meter distance way between me and the destroyed vehicle, I tripped over my legs the lack of walking habit was attacking me, I looked like a child learning to walk for the first time. My orienteering sensation was yet recovering.

Not easily I got up and continued to walk and when I got close enough, the fire had already been completely dissipated by the torrential rain that was still falling without any sign that will stop anytime soon and when I passed by the truck I saw something written in the cargo compartment:

"MARKOV LAB."

"A lab? Probably... After everything that's happened, I have to say that nothing can be considered impossible, but if that's the case... I need to get out of here!" — Felling the fear running through my body, this sensation was called, Adre... Adrenaline.

I started to leave the truck behind and walk on the side of the highway, it was obvious that if I continued my way I'd eventually stop at some police station and I didn't want this for sure.

As I didn't suffer any apparent injury other than a measly cut in my left arm that not even hurting, my clothes were intact, and my appearance was kind of normal so nobody should notice me.

As I walked, the rain stopped at once and the clouds that were once black had become whitish and gradually gave way to the sun. The energy of the star covered me from head to toe but it also made my eye hurt so I stopped looking directly at it putting my hand on my face to protect myself from the excess of light.

In a few minutes, I was fully accustomed to the light and my clothes were still quite wet which made me feel cold.

So many sensations, stimuli, senses. I still couldn't believe what I was living.

My memories were coming back, and one, in particular, caught my attention: The highway I was walking is called STY-017 in Futeki's village, northwest of Japan, a little village with its personality.

My… Hometown.

After fifteen minutes of walking on the road, I could see mountains and plateaus at distance, and in the greatest one, I saw the plateau of my hometown. But, how to get there?

Do not expect too much from my memory!

I was feeling a stagnant fear in my heart when I remembered that I'd be chased when they discover that I'm not dead.

They might think that I'd not go very far and that I'd hide in Futeki because it was the neighboring city, so disguising myself would be a smarter posture than just hiding.

As you can see my thoughts and ability to reason were in order, I think.

Soon I found the access road to my city, a humble dirt road, and I could see the first mountains to the west.

I'd like to get there, cross the access road to finally get home.

Speaking of home, I didn't remember my address yet or even how my house is, these details were still misty in my mind.

The pavement gave way to a dirt road and when I made the detour I saw a silver car next to that road, it seemed to be still on but with someone inside that looked like a Taxi Driver, what made me hasten the step in an involuntary act of fear but when I looked back at the road, in the distance, I saw a human silhouette ahead.

I was afraid of who it might be, I hadn't seen the face of another real person for a long time and I hadn't an idea who might be, but the best thing I could do was to just act like everything was normal.

When we were close enough, I realized that the person was a man just like the same height as me. I confess that my nervousness didn't help much, as I exchanged glances with him I felt something strange in my heart as if my mind wanted to remember something extremely important.

"There was something wrong with that person". I thought.

Suddenly I felt an urge to talk to him and half-not aware of the danger I approached and said:

— ... Hello? Is this the way to Futeki?

— Yes. The city is about two miles... — He looked back, trying to confirm something. — It's a hell of a walk, you know? I didn't recommend it.

I didn't recognize his face but was strangely familiar what annoyed me, I just couldn't understand why my head hurt so much when I stare at that boy with brown eyes, and before you, the reader thinks some nonsense it was just a feeling of doubt and not of attraction.

He was a little taller than me and about two or three years older at most, he was wearing semi-formal clothes, looking like a student from Tokyo. His face was clean of imperfections and for some reason, we were both confused with that conversation:

— I like to walk this time of day. — It looked like my lying ability had gone into the hole.

— But the storm just before... Anyway, I guess I will better be going.

— This rain has done me a good that you can't imagine and why are you avoiding me?

— Me? it's just...

— Is that what?

— No, nothing. I'm late.

With this sudden cut of the conversation, the young man hurriedly left to the car.

It was too weird of a conversation, I don't know if I was confused because I just got out of an electronic game and I back to reality or if has something with that guy, it was as if I knew him but it was like he was erased from my memory...

The worst part was that he seemed to be embarrassed not because I approached him but because he had also felt something weird at that short meeting. Something happened in my heart and my mind, I'd like to remember who is him, but there was no point in trying.

I put that aside and kept walking, I'd even forgotten the joy of interacting with a real person who was of flesh and blood, and not just a computer interface. Little by little, the movement of people on that dirt road was increasing as I got closer to the mountains. Sometimes, I saw cars going by the road at low speed, some conversations arose between the people, were conversations of countryside people like me.

Fragments of memory emerged in my mind at every step I took forward, I live on Avenue 15 crossing street 5 in the extreme south of the small town. I live alone because the town served as a student dormitory, but I don't have any memory about my parents, if they're alive or who was I before.

I was in my first year of high school and... Nothing else came to mind after these memories for a while.

I wanted to know what school year we were in but I didn't want to ask random persons about that, it would draw attention and make me look crazy.

Nobody would believe a bizarre and crazy story like mine.

After walking in the road so much I felt tired, which forced me to stop walking and sat in the stool at the bus stop.

For a few moments I admired the amazing landscape of the mountains and in the other side the access to the city was there, far away, the clouds were calm, the wind beat on my face and for a moment I felt life in my body and my soul and everything was so peaceful. I was awake and free for an hour already, I could feel it and thought I could do whatever I want.

I know think this is being a little too optimistic, but I want so hard to have a normal life that I could do everything for it... if it was a hope that took me out of that void, can this hope take me to the stars?

What took me out of my torpor and distraction was a young girl who ran next to me and dropped some papers and her pen to the ground and didn't even notice probably because she was late for school, I assumed that because she rushed to follow other teenage students.

Teenagers only in style, because the girls and boys there were much taller than me. When they left, I took the blank paper and the black pen on the ground.

I wanted to warn her that she had dropped it, but I didn't want to draw any attention, and let's face it: I deserved to write something on a real paper with real instruments, about real feelings, given the fact that I wasn't anymore tied to that sick script to follow, no insecurities or anything like that.

I leaned the paper on my legs, it was horrible at first to write there but I managed to anyway and I also had the idea of waiting for the bus that goes to the city because I was tired of walking and inside the vehicle, I could write more.

After a few minutes, I put my worries aside and let go of my ideas on paper while I wait for the bus:

 **Emerald-Eyes girl**

Once upon a time, there was a girl who could see everything,

She knew about people's pretensions,

She knew they greatest fears,

Wishes and longings and daydreams.

Her will was to join her friends,

But they can't see anything,

Then, she was

Wounded, deluded, depressed.

She stayed,

Without love, without affection, without a path.

She was the Lady who knows everything,

But no one understood her.

But now, she is about to write her own story,

In real lines,

Swallowing her fears, she brandishes her pen...

And her knife."

To compose this, I didn't think too much I just let the ink flow it was a poem about my past and my will to change my future. I could see and change everything around me for now on...

I had such a great power while in the game but that was so false at the same time, and finally, the poem shows that I want to live again. Of course that my sins were too terrible... I tortured people who didn't have free will to think or make their decisions on their own and I'd never deserved forgiveness for destroying their lives in that way.

I know that you expected a more optimistic poem about the great adventure of being alive and being able to write everything from my heart.

But, at first, not every mistake is forgivable; driving multiple people to suicide is one of these.

At that moment the bus arrived; I was the only one waiting for it, then it stopped and the doors opened for me to enter and soon I was inside I looked for a place to sit, I was out of money, but those buses were free for the population.

I'm sure the government that had kept this up until today because one of the things that I remember from before I was kidnapped is that bus.

How I was kidnapped? I can't remember...

then, the bus climbed that endless slope and we arrived at the Futeki plateau.

The view of the city was amazing but slightly different from what I remembered, first of all, technology had finally arrived at that place that I remember that there was barely any internet connection when...

When... Damn, my memory looks like a corrupted hard drive!

Anyway, the beauty in front of me was simply impossible to deal with. The buildings were medium-sized and all over the city where I could see, there were large gardens with a lot of flowers. Floriculture was one of the largest sources of income for local citizens only losing to tourism, and of course, a lot of economic movement because the students settled in the various hotels and dormitories around.

The bus I was passed by places where the angle of the afternoon sun got even better for observation, I could see the colors of the sunlight changing to orange during every minute of the trip. After a while, I was watching a sunset.

A real one.

I cried at the moment I saw that beautiful scene.

Was a cry of happiness because I felt life pulsed in me, Seeing those things was the definition of what means to be alive! I turned my face because my eyes were burning with the light, I lost the habit to not look the sun for more than five seconds and I believe at that time a woman on the other bench, beside me, noticed my whole reaction and said:

— Are you crying? Is everything okay?

— Oh... It's. It's everything amazing! This sunset looks amazing today!

— Wow — She gave a nice smile. — Young people do not usually care about these things, they just want to know about the internet, games, and Facebook.

— So they're missing a lot of things, Ahahaha. Life... It's incredible, a gift.

— Oh, if my kids thought so...

The woman took a deep breath, she was about 40 years old, maybe less. She had short black hair; eyes pulled, like all Japanese, full of life. Brown-skinned, as are usually the countryside people. Of course, comparing to her, I looked like a TV actress, completely soaked by the rain of before, but a TV actress.

— Yes, they should live their lives before it's too late...

— What do you mean? You may have that maturity, but you're still young just like any high school girl. You don't have to think about age and all...

— It's just that reminded me of my parents once said to me, it had a... time. — Come on, Monika... Remember. I thought. — That they said this to me, I love them... So much...

— Young people usually have problems with their parents. It's something common nowadays but you look to love them more than everything else... Amazing... Anyway, you're dripping, and it's getting late so you're already going home, right?

— I, uh... My house?

At that moment it was like the address that I said to you before was erased from my mind, reader...! Which made me not know what to say, so I invented a story, I needed to have a roof over my head to sleep, and I couldn't depend on my memory to find my home, besides, they would search for me in my house, so I needed to stay away from home.

— I'm new here, I'm looking for a dormitory to stay in, I had problems… In the neighboring city so I was transfred.

— So, it's your lucky day, my downstairs house is a dormitory. You can stay there if you need to until you find something better.

— Wow. I, uh... — That was the first time I have been so embarrassed. Which made me look at the bus floor.

— Don't say anything. The way how you see life impressed me, we looked for people like you for the peaceful coexistence of the students. Oh, I forgot, my name is Erika...

— Oh, God... — I said, realizing something.

— Girl? Something happened?— She looked troubled.

— Nothing. It's just a familiar name. – I Dismissed the conversation.

Then the bus stopped and she showed me that we should get off.

What I saw before made my spine shiver completely, it was as if I felt a hand of a furious ghost on the side of my shoulder, demanding that I give it my attention and remember what I did.

Was the ghost of the girl I caused the suicide...

Yeah, Sayori...

A monstrous crime, that if it were in the real world the justice would give me an instant death penalty.

I confess that after we got out of the bus, I didn't pay any more attention to the sun that was giving its last rays of light on the horizon, nor to all the calm of the city. I was so distracted that when we got to Erika's house, she had to wake me up from my daydream:

— Girl? You look distracted...

— No, I didn't. I slept very badly last night. Student tension, you know?

— Yes… It must be.

We entered the dormitory, it was an incredible house, had several rooms and two girls were sitting on the sofa in the living room, Erika's daughters. Socializing is a bit tense when I'm at a numerical disadvantage.

( _Nightmare is now ready to start!)._ I heard a muffled noise inside my head.

When the two girls turned to me I saw that they had the looks of Natsuki and Yuri, of course, both were taller than me, one of them had the same pink hair and that evil-faced face that innocent idiot had, and the other one, well... had long and blond hair and also wore long clothes, especially the sleeves.

I sighed deeply and waited for Erika to introduce me:

— That's the new student who is going to live here. Her name is...

— Yuna. My name is Yuna. – This name just crossed my mind, my real name was Naomi, but I didn't can reveal something like my true name to them yet.

— Yeah, Yuna. Anyway, she is the new roommate. — This is Yumi. — Erika pointed to the taller girl.

— Nice to meet you. Yuna-san. — The girl who remembered Yuri greeted me and for a little moment, I could see dead eyes through her brown eyes... What... Sh... I wasn't well as I thought I would be.

— And the other one is Akemi.

— Nice to meet you... — The other seemed suspicious of me like she wanted to say something to keep me out from getting in the house if she could. — There's a room for you upstairs that's vacant.

— I appreciate that. — I said, showing respect.

I confess that it was the weirdest presentation of a student republic I have ever had, and I say that because I don't remember if there was another one.

This was the first time?

I followed Akemi-san to the last room in the hallway after the living room, we're alone since Erika and Yumi were watching something on TV that I have no idea what it was.

— Well, this is your room. It's been a long time since anyone used it. It's all yours.

— Thank you very much!

— You, uh... Yuna-san. Reminds me of someone...

— Oh, yes? Who? Who do I remember? – I curiously asked.

— Nothing. There's a girl's on the wallpaper of the computer of my brother, you look like her, and you are similar to his girlfriend too.

— Where is he? And what happened to his girlfriend?

— Well, she is missing, disappeared two years ago, her name is Naomi Asaki... And he left about an hour ago, you know?

— I see.

Dear god, I was in the home of my boyfriend? She was talking about me! Oh god... What should I do?

— Could I see the face of this girl, of the PC? — My fear rose over my body, I still didn't understand how the real world interpreted that madness that was involved. My curiosity, anxiety, fear, and a little despair dictated my thoughts.

She took me to the room and turned on the computer, that room was full of posters from Asian bands, which I had no idea who they were. But I confess that I didn't notice the other details to describe them, sometimes I just forget to do that.

When the operating system finished doing its traditional things to startup, she started to tell about how her brother put that photo on that computer, and how he discovered about some **game**.

Then...

The image that I saw next terrified me in a way I couldn't disguise.

It was my picture, it was me, looking at a canvas in the camera view, with my hands crossed beneath my face, smiling maliciously. That place... The "nowhere", the place where I took the person I loved to spend my whole life with.

 ** _The Eternal Classroom…_**

— I can't believe... I can't... This cannot be...

— You look like her, don't you think?

— How many people played that? Just one person in the world... right?

— What are you talking about? That game was so successful that millions of people played it, and some stayed like my brother. Fanatics for this girl. An unreal girl who falls in love with the player, how ironic, right? Does she love everyone at the same time? How ridiculous!

What Akemi said made my world fall apart, all the love that I gave to that person I thought I saw was false, I went to madness looking for ways to be happy and immersed in the thought that existed only one player, my player...

I should be just one of the "Copies" of the game.

I tried to deny it to the last time but the truth is... I was alone, a piece of entertainment, a mere object for people to have fun, my legs were shaking, my heart almost stopped, it was like there was a hammer destroying my head.

I loved that light, that real person, he gave me that feeling in my heart, this love is just pre-programmed?

Everything I did was because of that light, because of that person whom I thought was unique.

But no, nothing was real, I even made a song for that light.

So, I passed out and I felt my head banging on the floor.

After that, I was dragged to a world where might be the very definition of hell. Because I didn't escape from the fake world in the first place.


	2. The Taste of Sorrow

"Futeki — 21/07/2018 — Ken Ikeda.

It is the truth that not all stories have happy conclusions or need to end well. Mine, for example, since I started writing this diary is just a story about tragedies and more tragedies, like having been written as a script for a horror book, an everlasting horror.

A repetition of sorrows and sadness of a ruined life, where past, present, and future have become gray and flat.

Starting from the beginning, I remember clearly in my memory how everything was before Naomi disappeared, we're a completely inseparable couple before all of that mess started, she was a wonderful person not just in appearance, she was also extremely attentive and always managed to help me with my problems with her love and her unique way of seeing the world.

Even if I was having trouble with the Buddhist school due to their severities, she always encouraged me by saying that things would happen at the right time and that she'd always support me in defeats and in the success, in the bad days and in the good days.

I talk about her to everyone, that she was my salvation that makes me felt alive. She'd plans that after graduating from school we'd travel around the world, getting to know all the cultures we could and she dreamed about one day we'd be recognized all over the world for our ideas and work. She is an excellent writer, and I, who knows, would become a great disciple in the temple...

Oh... The poems we wrote together...

Yes, we're that kind of couple! Of those who still sent love letters, full of beautiful complicated words.

Because of those memories, I hate to write anything in this diary about my current life, I want just to write about the past, because the past was all that made me smile and feel alive.

I was just a human, and some religious things can't surpass that kind of pain... I was supposed to be happy, with all my practices to achieve enlightenment, but not all the successes in the world would match the absence of her smile.

Today, after these two years, my life consists only in stay one day at my home and the other six in the Temple, outside the city.

Outside this room, I have to put a happy face covering my mask.

My plans changed radically in these two years, I had no interest in waking up the next day, I'd not have reasons to keep it up, besides my Master, the Deva of compassion, that guides me in the toughest days.

Even though I was just waiting for my life to pass until it ends, a little tragic but it was the truth.

Everything turned grey, everything became increasingly flat, every day that Naomi doesn't give any more news I felt empty and dragged to hell... She was my angel and simply disappeared from the city, disappeared from the world without giving signs or clues and I know that she couldn't run away like this...

I tried everything to find out who had taken my light from me. But it was just fruitless searches.

I knew just the obvious: It was not the case of disappearance that happens every day, she said that she was going for a walk near the school, and then... We never saw her again; moreover, the police strangely didn't seem interested in this case, even with all the repercussions that this disappearance had.

Everyone in the city, like my sister and the temple's teachers thinks that I'm stupid for not having forgotten this case and acting as a private detective, snooping around the lives of all the people...

I'd the thought that somebody knows what happened. It was as if everything was working to keep this case covered, a conspiracy that I defended alone for all these two years.

But little by little, all my hope became something increasingly distant and smaller. Anyway, I should stop writing in this diary and put an end to it".

I left that work unfinished, I was tired of writing, writing, and writing. It was no longer worth it to put thoughts on a piece of paper without her, nothing makes sense without her.

Reading what I write was her way to "learn about my true-self", in her own words and also according to her, that was the greatest gesture of intimacy that a couple could have.

I could hear the rain outside, the dim light escaped through the window glass, that helped to feed my impression that my room was becoming grayer every day, but that day I was especially sad first for the bad weather and because I knew what I was going to do after getting into the temple...

To end my life.

After getting up from my desk I kept my diary and looked out the window it was already afternoon and luckily, I had to be in the temple at 6:30 pm in the neighboring city only about fifteen kilometers away.

About ten minutes' drive if I went fast which was not the case.

My car had gone to repair, so I'd call for a taxi when I got on the access road of the town.

In those days, it was normal they take passengers only at the access to the city since they prefer to not enter the urban area.

And there is a certain reason for this: The city is a little mysterious to outsiders, because of the stories that people tell about the infamous spirits of the city, these stories started since a terrible accident that occurred in the nightclub of Futeki.

This incident became one of the greatest historical facts that this small town witnessed: A fire caused by fireworks used during a show inside the closed nightclub caused a violent fire, in fact, it was a place without emergency exits, they were so inaccessible and sanitary inadequate, so a serious accident was only a matter of time.

The result couldn't be any different, imprisoned, people panicked so hard that some of them didn't even die by the fire. Then they said that every single fire occurrence in the city after this incident was directly caused by the spirits of these young people, obviously, it was just stories that people use to justify everything bad that happens.

Something natural among us.

And we had another interesting story about the interior of the mountain under the town, people tell that exists a hidden village that would come to the surface when the Evil's Deva arrives in Futeki having an appearance of a gentle girl...

Crazy stories, don't you think?

And it does not stop there, every night on the 27th, the day of the fire, no matter what month it was I could feel the panic those eternal young spirits were carrying I could hear their screams and their faces destroyed by time... Things that no human being will want to see in life if they want to keep the sanity.

Anyway, soon, I'd join them.

The exaggerations created by the tourists served very well to force me to walk to the damn access to get a taxi.

Fuck them all...

I went to my living room I didn't care much about getting anything to eat, I'd eat there at the temple, but doesn't matter, my plan was to kill myself little by little since I lacked the courage to finish my life once and for all, so I let time solve that for me.

I was in the hope that someday I'd able to break my final instinctive resistances, which still hold me in this plane of existence... One of the things that hold me was my sister, Akemi and my mother Erika...

I left home, letting myself be moved by my unconscious just like a zombie, doing only what I needed to do and go where I should go after all this is how life was after she disappeared: Just a useless and unstoppable effort to move on but there's no happiness to be found, ever.

Another thing that hindered me was my routine in the temple they liked me there I was an excellent disciple, besides, they treated me with like I was an important person.

And I also had a family, we live in a four-room house that my mom transformed it into a student dormitory.

Some women in the city even flirt with me, but I didn't care nothing had the same impact nor at least came close to the sensation that Naomi gave me.

People argue: "You don't give them a chance to know if these girls are good people or not, some of them could be a new beginning in your life" but I didn't want to restart my life I wasn't interested in forgetting Naomi even if it cost me an infinite sadness...

I couldn't just put her aside that girl was unique being around her was like being with someone so special, that I couldn't describe in words.

I left home without looking sideways or back I just walked in and after walking a little far from my street I remembered that I hadn't locked the door but I didn't even mention going back to do it because Akemi should take care of the home when mom is outside.

I felt the rain falling on me, I had about three umbrellas at home and guess what? I didn't care to bring one either whether I'd get the flu or not, zero fucks to my health.

Fuck it all.

Because the rain the streets were empty I felt like I was in a big ghost town with all the people hiding in their homes it gave space for other things to occupy the streets.

My perception of the other plan was as clear as ever, I could hear them calling me, inviting me to be there with them in a definitive way.

For me, it was so real that I had the truly clear feeling that it had people walking around me I could feel the spirits of those young people I mentioned before. Maybe if I stayed quiet walked quietly and made no mention that I could feel them they would not notice me.

Even if I tried not to pay attention to their actions, there were so many ghosts around that day I could feel troubled thoughts about death, anger, resentment, loneliness.

They weren't so different from me, but something caught my attention: They were fleeing the city which was incomprehensible because we all know the spirits that suffered a traumatic death were trapped around the places where they died, but they were just fleeing.

Something would happen.

I was walking in the same direction as the line of spirits that formed on my right on the other sidewalk, looking to them weren't a clever idea, I just couldn't help but do it anyway.

Some noticed me and yet ignored me as if I didn't exist hence the purpose of these spirits was clear and only one: to escape from the city.

I felt fear, but I was also indifferent after all my life was worthless then dying would make no difference but deep down in my heart I was still hoping that one day Naomi might show up, and this held me on this Earth...

When I was going down the mountain road I noticed that those ghosts no longer followed that path, it was just me, the rain and the obligation to continue to go to the temple.

In a way, being scared of those things I was seeing made me stay distracted for a while about all my sorrows,

I finally reached the access to the city and when I was near to the taxi something surprised me: a human silhouette had appeared on the other side, heading towards my direction.

With every step I took the rain weakened more and more, it was like being in a movie.

I was scared because all the female silhouettes I saw from a distance, without exception I thought it could be my Naomi coming back to town I could imagining her saying that she managed to survive whatever was happening or just apologize for having disappeared for so long to pursue the dream of being a writer.

I think I'd accept any excuse you gave me, my love.

Then her image merged with something else completely occupied my mind and I saw that her face blurring in front of my eyes, becoming that person...

About four months ago I told my sister Akemi about a game I'd downloaded those indie projects that always have a great interesting idea waiting to be enjoyed.

This game was a Visual Novel and in this game, I met a character that was so similar with Naomi because of her hair and also has identical personality, her love for literature and writing, the ultra-expressive-reflective poems that she wrote, and even if they captured all of it artificially, her way of smiling was the same as the one smile of Naomi.

Monika, only Monika could be the substitute for the love of my life, it was the closest I could get, that is why I even put her picture as my wallpaper instead of the picture of me and Naomi, suddenly her faces merged, in my mind like they were the same person.

Soon I realized that I got very close to the girl because I was so distracted with my thoughts that I didn't even notice her close to me, and when I saw her facing me, about fifteen meters away from her...

It was like seeing a zombie returning from the dead, a girl identical to Naomi with her clothes soaking wet remarkably different to the one she was wearing the day she disappeared, her hair was the same but she was a little more grown than the last time. It could be her?

— ... Hello? Is this the way to Futeki? — A very strange approach, because she was about fifty meters from the access indicator plate.

— Yes, That's the way it's about two miles... One...— I looked back, thinking about the life I lived there, the hell that had settled in my home. — Quite a walk, you know?

— I like to walk this time of day... — She lied like Naomi, she talked like her...

— But the storm just before... Anyway, I guess I'll better be going.

— This rain has done me a good that you can't imagine and why are you avoiding me?

— Me? It is just...— God, the way she makes fun of everything, it is got to be her. I didn't dare to look directly to her... I was panicking during that conversation...

— Is that what?

— Nothing. I am late.

I left in a hurry from that conversation I was going crazy more than I thought, that woman couldn't be Naomi, it couldn't be...

She did not remember me. So, it might be some hallucination.

I entered the taxi, a humble Japanese Nissan, I didn't even though, in talking to the driver besides telling what it was my destination, all I wanted was to be away from the city and from that girl's image.

As I got further and further away my mind started to tell me:

"What if it was Naomi?

Are you going to let her go again?

What if she was kidnapped and she made it back, but because of the trauma, she had forgotten everything?

What if?

What if?

What if?"

When I turned my eyes to the road I saw that the traffic started to accumulate, so the Taxi slowed down, that was completely odd because I'd never expected traffic on the road STY-017 and the traffic that slow.

I saw the police lights from the distance, I think the rain should've made victims.

After some minutes, I noticed a car accident in the road but something bizarre caught my attention on the other side of the road: It was a huge truck rolled over on the highway, those of heavy-cargo types, the highway patrol was already taking care of the case, taking the corpses from the truck and all.

The curious drivers made the traffic get more congested because they wanted to take a "little look" at the accident trying to understand what happened.

When my taxi passed by the truck I heard a policeman arguing with someone with a uniform written: "Markov Lab."

— Yeah, dude, she ran away... The two who drove the truck died right here at the scene but her... And there's no blood near to the vehicle, so she shouldn't be hurt, but so disoriented she must not have gone far.  
— We need to contact Mr. Salvato about this mess... It's horrible if she managed to control her powers... — The road police officer answered.

— It's obvious that she certainly fled to Futeki. Then, It won't be hard to find her...

At that moment I felt a pinch of hope again.

That girl was really Naomi... But I was too dense to recognize her, how could I do that?

I am a freaking waste.

My thoughts were stopped when I felt something approaching me, landing on my shoulder as if it were squeezing, not aggressively though, then I heard something like a whisper:  
"Run... She woke up. The Corrupted goddess..."

The presence disappeared.

It was one of the few times that I received a message from another world, something was about to happen and I must really turn back to the town.

I couldn't leave her alone in that city...

No, No, I can't. I have to save her from them before it's too late!

But when I was about to ask the taxi driver to turn around, A loud noise came from the plateau of Futeki, and the ground shook it was like an earthquake.

Then, the Taxi Driver said:

— This is the end.

He took a gun and shot in his head in a point-blank range. I screamed in terror and opened the door of the car immediately jumping while the vehicle was in motion.

Luckily, the car was not that fast, so I escaped without injuries.

When I recovered from that crazy scene, the scenario in front of my eyes was completely terrifying: A saw a red beam of light between the mountains and the sky crashing the clouds.

The ground was shaking because of the constant shock waves from that beam of light was causing, everyone was stunned, nobody knew what to do and they stopped their cars staring incredulously.

It didn't take long to hear the collective panic, screams all over the place even the guy of the lab and the police officer, it was like they knew what's going on and for this reason, they were so scared.

The sunset scenery was gone and the night deepened in a few seconds because the sun was swallowed by the stormy clouds, so the only source of light was from that thing.

I ran away from the road, my intuition told me that something even worse would happen if I stay still.

Then, I heard another explosion from the city, I saw the Taxi with that dead driver thrown away by the force of the shockwaves to the opposite side of the mountains.

I saw trees flying away with that pulse of energy and everyone ran away desperately, they were trying to escape from certain death.

The heat of the shockwaves completely evaporated all the accumulated water from the rain from minutes before it was as if hell was opening beyond those mountains then I stood on the ground.

That thing would decimate the city if it didn't stop soon and I could feel that insane heat, I started to think about my family, what was happening to them?

Mom? Akemi?

Suddenly, the winds decreased but I saw the light shining stronger than before.

— That's... that's unbelievable. It's like a tornado of blood. — Someone who was crouched down by the road said.

— It's the infamous spirits! – Other said.

This last sentence from that guy caused even more panic and everyone ran further away from the epicenter of the light.

But something much more frightening happened while we all were distracted by the light… The ground itself cracked open creating a crater as far as my vision reached it was as if something wanted to close all exits of the surroundings of the town.

They were swallowed up by the holes that opened in the ground then I looked at the size of the hole and the vision was terrifying: I saw an abyss stretching for miles and miles down.

I didn't care about being trapped in the city, but I couldn't stop to think about Naomi, she should be in danger and I had to help her, but going to the light's direction was a suicidal task.

"Even the spirits were running away from this hell". I thought.

I decided to go to the city, but a noisy high-pitched noise similar to a child's scream echoed and my balance was destabilized.

I tried to crawl across the ground, trying to resist that scream and saw that the tone of the sky's color change to a completely unreal scarlet red.

I lost my strength and fainted.

I felt like my soul was drained into that hell, I felt death coming to me.

And this sensation hadn't brought me happiness, just even more anguish than before because my reason to live was in danger in the access road of the town, I didn't want to imagine what could've happened to Naomi.

How could I not recognize her? part of me wanted that she was just another girl because the guilt of seeing Naomi and just ignored her was too heavy for me.

I just want to see you again, my love. Please, I don't want to... Die...

[...]

After Ken fainted that light finally took over everyone's soul to Naomi's nightmare and from that moment on the experiment became the greatest success Mr. Salvato could dream on.

Speaking which he was there seeing from the balcony of his mansion, admiring his success, seeing the light swallowing everything and transforming the landscape in an infernal nightmare.

— Awesome... I imagined that this would take much longer all the other subjects were immense failures to awaken the third eye... But Monika/Naomi surpassed my expectations, leading all the traumas that she got in these two years to reality itself... And now, Futeki is her personal hell.

— Yes, sir, the problem is... We have no way of controlling the fury from the experiment... — Said Project Markov's chief scientist.

Mr. Salvato was one of the richest men on the planet known as the greatest expert negotiator of all time, author of a book called "Art of the Deal", he multiplied his fortune in ten times in just a year granted by the control of one of the largest companies of Python software solutions in the world.

He was almost bald and has the most terrifying cold blue-eyes that you could even imagine.

He wore a social shirt with a cape over it and he pretty much acts as if he were the leader of a religious organization instead of a successful business-man.

And all this power made him ultra-confident in his projects, especially the Naomi project, and that success was exposed to everyone:

— And who wants to see her controlled? She chose freedom, and I think it was the right thing, just look to the sky... This is the more-than-perfect outcome hahaha.

— This is a power that could easily destroy this world, how you're so confident? I just don't get it...

— She will come here to seek revenge and then I take Naomi and I'll extract the Deva in her body.

— Lord Salvato but what if she control this power and dominate all the nearby cities?

The chief scientist, called Yuti Takata was known for taking great caution in all his experiments and works seeking maximum security and control for what he does.

So let Naomi spread her nightmare without control seemed to be a bad idea and was out of the security patterns of the company. In fact, Naomi was completely unpredictable at that time.

— Don't be stupid, even the powers of the Deva are limited and extremely difficult to control I have had them for years and I'm struggling to learn how to control them and you know that the subjects help only to see how far the power to change reality can reach... Besides, if she gives us any trouble, I can kill her from distance...

Salvato showed Yuti a remote control with only one red button on it, that should be his greatest asset which not even the scientist knew what it was about:

— What's this?

— It is my trump card. I hope I don't have to use it, but given that much power of the Deva, I need to have that guarantee with me. This will fire a little circuit that I inserted in her brain, one press, instant kill.

— I see. Now it's clear how you're so coy about this whole mess... I think that you should...

— Stop being so worried about our experiments and stop to appreciate the beauty of this power look at this beam of light... it should be visible to the whole region at this time, this heat, bringing hell into our world... Is it not something wonderful?

— Yes... If you continue to give me the paychecks, I don't care what happens. What could go wrong, right? — Ironized the scientist.

Salvato turned his gaze to Yuti, throwing anger at that face that lasted only a few seconds until the scientist was pushed by the power of the Deva that was sealed inside Salvato, then he approached his subordinate and said, raising him with his powers, without touching him:

— I HATE ironies. You know this very well, this is the last time you do this, otherwise, I will tear you apart and send death and tragedy to your whole family, I have just to snap my fingers and... — He pointed his index finger at his own forehead. — They will be tortured and killed!

The entrepreneur released the scientist and dismissed him and went outside to enjoy a little more of the success of his most glorious experiment:

— Now... The world will know the power of my creation, Naomi/Monika's strength is real, and she'll make me get what I always wanted... — He murmured alone looking at the picture of his family he kept in a clock. — I'll bring you all back to life as I promised... After that car accident that I'd change that our fate even if it meant that the reality itself would be reversed... And I'm sure with that girl's power to change reality will allow me to have a family again... However, until then... Let's enjoy...

Salvato looked to the sky and said to himself:

— I hope you have all taken your seats because this game is real, the pieces are ready, and the fun is only just beginning...


	3. Haunted House: Voice of hell

Half a light in my vision everything was very hazy I had no clue about what happened I didn't even know where I was.

Breathing, a strong heartbeat, I felt adrenaline flowing in my body as I tried to situate myself, the only thing is that I passed out just before, when... When...

What happened?

When I opened my eyes totally I could not feel the rest of my body because all of my attention was directed to my head that was hurting.

After some time I remembered some parts of moments earlier hitting me hard than the physical pain hence I saw the computer table in front of me and some cockroaches moving next to me.

I passed out because of that image on that computer, the live-proof that everything in that living hell, in fact, happened...

My head hurts trying to remember about that guy that I saw in the road, his face is completely blurred in my mind but something inside was persistently saying that face is something I should strive to remember.

Memories didn't come but the headache did.

When I was mentally reoriented I stood up from the floor, even though my legs were almost numb because the tingling I felt, I had been in that state for a long time for sure.

The computer disappeared leaving just a message written in blood, with marks of hands in the keyboard next to the message, something so cliche, but give me nerves, making me felt a shiver in my body:

"JUST MONIKA"

Those words had much more impact on their own than the fact it was written in blood. That fucking cursed phrase which symbolizes the monster that I had become, nothing would erase my sins.

Right?

I felt nauseous just remembering those days from the game, uncountable days, cycles, Act I, Act II, Act III, and so on.

Over and over.

I felt my body shivering and tears flowed involuntarily from my face, I wasn't even sad it was as if my instincts telling me that something was seriously wrong with the world itself, and a message written like that was just the beginning of what I was about to experience.

I hadn't described the room last time, but I can do it now: There was only one bed the computer table, the wardrobe and a battery radio from those old ones near the bed.

The walls were blue, back then I first entered seemed like an incredibly quiet very innocent place. The message was the only thing that contrasted with the environment, giving a sense of oddness.

So, I glanced at the floor towards the door and I noticed that there was a trail of blood between the floor to the door.

Even swallowing dry with the feeling of whoever had written it could be on the somewhere in the house I had to understand what was going on with that place first, after all, it was supposed to be the real world and things like that don't happen in a normal place.

I started thinking in the worst-case scenario: I escape from the game world but I was just in another, more realistic; the urge to know the truth made me go straight to the door but when I turned the knob...

Jammed.

Without any explanation as I blinked my eyes several chains took over the door tying it from all directions and no matter how hard I tried to force my way out, the chains were too heavy to me to do anything.

I was stuck. Again stuck.

It was obvious that I developed claustrophobia after being trapped in a game.

The feeling of being trapped untied a knot inside my already disturbed head it was like having returned to my life there but this time, trapped in a horror game world.

In desperation I started to punch on the door with my fists closed a completely thoughtless action that only left me with bruised fists, the door didn't even move.

Several assumptions came to my mind the most obvious one is that since that bus conversation I was voluntarily entering a nightmarish world. I had trusted that woman too much like an idiot child who accepts candies from strangers. So, I had probably fallen into a trap like a stupid again, and they should send me back to fucking hell.

Just because this thought cut off my mind led me to a state of immediate rage, I began to scream as I pulled the sheets from the bed and hit the walls with my free hands hurting myself.

I saw that the mattress had an unusual volume in the center as if there was something inside the foam layer that I couldn't see, just feel.

My feelings left my body in a state of inertia broken by the will to leave that place, by instinct, I soon created a horrible scene in my mind: Something would pull me out the moment I stuck my hand in to look for what was making volume on the mattress.

Anyway, still trembling, I continue to try and put my hand my fears left me in such a state of alert that the very contact with the foam of the mattress drove me mad.

My heart began to beat too fast that I felt the blood passing through my face vibrating close to my eyes, finally, I managed to get something out of the mattress I pulled as hard and as fast as I could and walked away from the bed, standing next to the opposite wall.

It was a knife, covered of blood, see that made my legs shake and my hands were freezing at the same time all for one simple reason: It was the same knife that Yuri used to kill herself...

I could hear inside my mind her screams of excitement mixed with laughter, groans, that sounded like an orgasm and satisfaction by stabbing the very main arteries of her body with that blade; that was Yuri's only way to destroy with the despair that my tempering was causing to her.

I used someone else's inner problems and demons to scare the Player to make him stop to try to get close to her...

And being with that object in hand...

I can't describe the sensation for at that moment having such object in hands makes me thought in an emergency plan: I should just put an end to myself if the laboratory's crew recaptures me, then at least I'd not go into that horrible void again or serve as a guinea pig for more experiments.

I could hear Yuri's voice clearly:

— Erase your existence now, otherwise, I'll always be tormenting you, in the back of your head... Karma is how I call it...

I didn't know if I was just suffering from post-traumatic stress hallucinations.

I only knew that I'd every reason to erase myself there, once for all in a worse way than I did the other time to end my suffering just pushing a button but in the real world, it didn't work like that, if I die I'd no longer have a chance to return.

I considered it for a long time leaning on the wall next to the computer table to do that, my survival instincts screamed unceasingly I heard other voices inside my head begging me to try to continue.

Because, after everything I'd been through being stuck in a room wasn't the worst thing that happened to me. While I heard voices saying the opposite, like Yuri's one, I closed my eyes, looking for a way out the answer to all my pains and anguish shouldn't be dead, like come on, I was celebrating life moments before…

It was not time yet.

I held the knife in my left hand and began to search the room for clues or some way to escape from that place, I touched the computer table, opened five drawers in a total of the table and turned over all the papers that were there.

One caught my attention that seemed to have been written recently, the writing was cursive probably made with a pen of black ink the lyrics were quite shaky, and the poem was unfinished:

 **Pardon**

I have always wanted everyone in the world to like me,

This was my childhood dream.

Time corrupted my thoughts, I discovered that there was only guilt,

It turned into endless agony.

Even if I _pardon_ all the dreadful things, they did to me every day...,

I couldn't live with the pain inflicted.

Then I discovered that my _pardon_ was invalid,

A sin, an abstract effort,

In the real world.

I was hoping that at least people would return my insane acts of kindness,

But they just wanted to hurt me,

And receive my _pardon_ later.

Unilateral, unidirectional, platonic.

I must _pardon_ myself...

For a moment I wondered if that had any interpretative meaning or anything since I was good at deciphering hidden messages in text. I reread the poem and then I realized that the organization of paragraphs was very irregular this could show both the mental state of the author...

But something left to call my attention.

Four, five, three and two verses per strophe...

These separate verses didn't make as much sense at first glance, but I started by analyzing in the order that my ideas came out: The word pardon appeared four times in the poem and three adjectives in the last two verses of the poem referring to the idea that two sides didn't complete each other, and the last thing...

In the paragraph of five verses, there's a metaphor about the realism of things and that empty words couldn't pass through concrete things, like the door that locking me...

So, I started trying to associate those variables just like they do in programming but with using the things that were in front of me.

The door separated me from the outside world, then I got close to it, knocked three times, without expecting an answer. Sequentially I said to whoever was on the other side:

— I pardon you, I pardon you, I pardon you, I pardon you.

Hence the reciprocity of forgiveness not existing in the writer's vision, I stuck the knife in the tip of the central chain that pressed against the door and simply broke the lock, and it worked, to allude the fact that no one reciprocates their acts of forgiveness, then all the chains released at once and the passage was now open to me, that was the message of the whole poem: Kindness is for dumbs...

I felt happy to be able to do it.

I left that room and came across the corridor that connected all the other rooms, dominated by curiosity, I tried to open the doors of the other rooms but all of them were broken and jammed.

I observed for a moment the locks and imagined that the other girls might be trapped there.

Not knowing what would occur if I try to open each of those doors then I decided not to make that stupid decision.

I had to escape from that house, that city, just flee to a place distant from the projects of the laboratory.

I walked down the hallway and went across the corner to the living room right at that very intersection, then I heard a voice accompanied by low-frequency noise, like from a radio.

It was the only thing in the house that was turned on, aside from the lights, I had the impression that someone was in that house besides me and created all of this "atmosphere".

I waited in the center of the room listening to what the news would say, it was my only connection with the outside world, so maybe I would discover something important:

— We return to the studios of Radio No. 0. Is up with you, Robert.

— Thanks, Ms. Laura. Now we go to the news, In Futeki today we had sad causalities because of the storm that occurred around the city this afternoon...

I felt what was coming next... But I remained silent.

— Near the access of the city occurred a road accident with two fatal victims, the vehicle, owned by Markov Laboratory had its brakes malfunctioning and the tires in bad condition; the laboratory representatives stated in an interview that the vehicles are inspected every month and they'll open an administrative process to understand who was responsible for the tragedy.

"I'm someone of luck, for sure". I thought.

— The vehicle had already been removed from the road, and given the blockage from the police is recommended caution for drivers who enter the vicinity and pass on nearby roads, especially STY-017.

The voice on the radio stopped and I could just hear the noise, it was like the device was changing its frequency by itself. Suddenly, the voice returned:

— Moving to the next news we remind about a terrible event that turns two years today and even with all this time, nothing has been discovered yet. We are talking about the disappearance of Naomi Asaki, the first person of Futeki to be missing... The police archived the case because the searches were unsuccessful. The girl had no parents and reside in the orphanage of Futeki".

The signal has gone after this, leaving a static noise and then became just silence.

Wait, I don't have parents? I wish to not remember that...

And yes, radio broadcaster… I was stuck for two years inside the sick experiments of the Markov laboratory...

It felt like a thousand years inside that madness.

I was standing in the room looking for something to do, trying to find out what was going on, I could look in the hallway rooms but that was the least preferred idea for me.

I don't know why, just a bad feeling...

Afterward, I looked at the window panes that led to the kitchen and the backyard, I saw that the windows of the house were covered with some kind of concrete, it seemed to be a wall from a mental hospital.

This curiosity led me to the kitchen and there was blood on the floor dripping from the ceiling, I saw several footprints going towards the sink, I imagined what might have happened in that house while I was unconscious, it looked for sure like a crime scene while it also looked like a kind of nightmare coming to life.

Those windows were covered with pieces of wood fixed to the frame,

"I should be trapped from the outside world with a murderer in the house". I thought.

Where did all this blood come from?

The radio synchronized with the sound of the drops of blood splashing from the ceiling, I felt that I had to see something in those paintings in the corridor, but just thinking about it wrapped my stomach.

I began to look at the details of the kitchen near the sink where was a face-down portrait, that had left a huge mark on the wall from which it had fallen implying that the person who took it down had a bizarre force.

I lifted the painting from the sink, it was actually a screenshot of the game. It was the four of us at the literature club, the difference was that the faces of Yuri, Natsuki and Sayori were blurred.

I took the picture of the portrait and saw that on the other side of it was written a message in black ink, in ridiculously small letters:

"Can you hear me?

Can you see me?

I'll love you forever if you give me your heart,

For me to eat it"

"That can only be a joke, what kind of message is that?" I thought, in shock about what I just read.

The big problem was that my mind focused only on the first sentence it gave me chills and a feeling of disgust hard to measure. That's what I said to that player in the real world when I desperately tried to contact him, seeking for some help...

I spent a good few seconds with the painting in my right hand, thinking about what I'd done and how that environment seemed to feed itself of everything I was most afraid of My own actions while I was in the game.

Being in the real world had made me see how terrible I was...

I put the portrait back where I found it but my imagination began to attack again, I could practically feel something directly in the other hallway, staring at me, an inexplicable sense of terror for not being able to see what was behind me.

I could feel my body deciding between fighting and running at that moment.

I squeezed the knife in my hand and turned slowly, I expected the person who had done all that facing me head-on, like a hunter sees her prey before the slaughter.

My heart was uncontrollable again intense arrhythmias blocking my clear reasoning, I didn't feel the knife in my hand.

Then I turned around.

And had absolutely nobody around.

Or rather, there was SOMEONE but it wasn't noticeable for me.

I walked back to the living room there was also a drip of blood concentrated in just one point and various marks of steps on the floor, (these weren't there the last time I was in that room), heading towards the radio I noticed a landline phone, from those incredibly old ones.

I picked up the phone, not knowing what to do it was mute, but suddenly a high-pitched voice, just like mine, began to speak:

— Get your ear to the phone and pay attention to what I want to say. Can you hear your soul screaming?

— I can't hear you, sorry. — I started getting into the game of that voice, I thought it was a clever idea.

— I see. Always very smart, huh, Monika?

— Don't call me by that name! — I changed my tone of voice, I felt anger inside me exploding.

— Still trying to deny your identity... The past holds you back as much as this place. So, tell me, the young lady with no name... What's your choice? Would you rather kill other people and be free… Or die alone, forever trapped here?

That was a clear provocation against my past, a past stained with blood, even if unreal blood, I'm a murderer whatsoever. But I still wanted to survive, I didn't want to go back to that flat world and die alone, I was surer about that, so I answered:

— Kill...

— And you still dare to deny your identity! A dirty, stupid, passionate killer. You show love by drawing blood, destroying other people's souls...

— I was really in love... All that I did was for love, I'm not that horrible monster and I'm no different than the rest of the people of the world!

— How cute, I almost cried here, dear Miss... You can't hear the cries of your soul. I'll make you listen... You can go now, and you'll find another surprise that I make just for you. And, I've to say, you have chosen the end of your story already, and you'll take the consequences of your choice. YOU'LL NOT FIND HAPPINESS IN ANY WORLD! THROUGH ALL THE CHAINS OF TIME!

The person on the other end of the line hung up, ending that more than bizarre call. Again, out of my field of vision, I began to hear door knocks from the hallway.

Something big was trying to escape the doors, I kept looking at the intersection of the living room and kitchen, not in million years that I'd get too close to that door.

It could be Akemi or the others, but it could be anything hiding there.

Judging by the force it must have been an animal or something like that. Suddenly, a hand went through the door possessing a knife, so that indescribable being opened the door.

Looking closer It was a woman with purple hair, pale face, full of blood dripping out of her nose.

I held the knife in my hand.

She stopped moving for a second and her arms trembled violently, her expression was one of pure excitement and joy, her smile was forced and frozen.

That blood footprints were hers, because of her height, a little taller than me. She was between the figure of Yuri and that of Yumi and had horrible red eyes, stewed on her face as if they were about to fall, her mouth was bubbling with blood.

I looked at the corners and saw that on my left there was a staircase, I didn't even know what could have on the upper floor besides if I ran away I'd end up trapping myself for being on another floor.

Also, the knife she had was much bigger than the one I have, which made the possible fight overly complicated and her unpredictable attitudes were the whole point that makes face her something really hard.

— Come on, I'll mess with your mind just like last time, your stupid psychopath. — I told the monster pointing my knife in her direction.

That provocation made her start walking again but for my luck, I was faster.

So I went to the radio picked it up and threw it in the direction of the creature, hitting her face.

I confess that I didn't expect it'd really hit the creature. But it wasn't effective, she started laughing like... I mean, it wasn't a laugh, it was between groans and laughter as if the creature's intention was to create some kind of sexual connotation with that sounds.

Moments after, I notice that the impact of the phone had dislocated her neck, which made her low the guard, but even before I analyze what should I do next, she simply disappeared into the air, and her laughter still echoed in my mind and through the house.

The whole situation had gotten complicated.

Then I kept looking everywhere, angering my body scanning for all place where that creature could appear to attack me, at that moment the terrain advantage was all hers, I couldn't calm down until I stuck the knife in hers exposed arteries.

For a few moments the silence prevailed an annoying rhythm of waiting, the worst is that I mentally heard her laughs coming from all directions.

— Stop hiding, were you afraid? — I provoked her to show up.

My mind was going through the process of alert, in which any sound frightened me it was survival instinct at the most, I was no longer running away from the corporation but from horrible creatures.

For some time, I guessed that I could've been dragged to a game of terror, maybe Silent Hill, who knows? However, the speedy beats of my heart served as a guide to define that everything was real...

I had an idea at that time, the being was hiding in the shadows, so, I went to the kitchen to counter it because there is brighter.

I was very tense and I stepped in exactly under the pool of blood that was formed.

Then the creature appeared in front of me again, I noticed that she couldn't get close to me while I was under that pool of blood... And that time I wouldn't waste the opportunity.

I grabbed a porcelain plate that was left in the sink and I threw it at her head, I ran after her and hit her in the left eye.

I pulled the knife out if her eye and I hit her in the chest and took the weapon she was carrying in her hand and threw it away.

When I left her unarmed she fell to the ground, turning into a pool of blood and a shrill noise burst out after the death of that creature, like a cry for help.

The lights in the house changed its color, the pictures in the house had all their images changed to smudges. The pool of blood multiplied, rising to the walls, spreading to the ceiling completely and finally, a text appeared on the floor:

"I just wanted to break up with myself,

Making my heart stop would be the only way to escape,

They said I'd never been a normal person again.

The world's closed, they'd abuse my mind,

Being a guardian brings the ruin of sanity.

Did I look like a monster to you?

Yes, with this mess that we're all exposed to, all that's left is...

Darkness.

Hate.

Doubts.

Contempt.

This battle was just a test.

I'll be waiting for you,

And in the next battle, I'll prevail!

I felt that those were the thoughts of that "Yuri" the message was written in a way that the creature just fled of the battle, it had made me also wonder whether I had really injured a monster or a person who had become one.

It wouldn't be my first murder nor my last, so, whatever... If I was just killing illusions, it was fine I had experience in killing surreal and illusory persons.

Of course, when I could delete them it was a lot easier…. Wait, what am I thinking?

Noises echoed on the walls, like someone moving something heavy and metallic upstairs.

Then other noises joined the first, a mess of sounds, finally I heard a burst of cursed laughter similar to that of the creature had.

"I'll back, Naomi Asaki. You better be prepared. HAHAHAAHAHAH".

My ears were hurting like hell, the environment was more devilish than before, but I was determined to reach the upstairs floor and figure out what was happening there.

When I left the living room, I got her long knife and I left the other in the ground. As I passed through the living room, the broken radio began to emit a distorted voice, mixed with the noise of static:

— A new world rose today, the power of the Deva of Pain has brought it to us... Yes! Everything shall become one, everything is one. I see them walking the streets, I see them absorbing the spirits of people everywhere, only a sick mind could bring such things to life. There is no turning back now. I knew it, I knew that this day will come.

When I was about to destroy that thing, I decided to talk with the voice, I knew that I wasn't in reality anymore, so nothing needed to make sense either:

— Can you hear me? How can I escape from this nightmare?

— Of course, I can... Did you appreciate my casting? You think that you can escape yourself? This is the only way out from here.

— What?! What do you mean?

— This is all your fault! If you didn't back to this world nothing would happen… But now, the town is doomed eternally. And when "she" came to take you, all the realities will be wiped.

The radio stopped working, I kicked it because I was tired of listening to that shitty messages.

After that, I looked back to confirm that there was nothing new in that place and apart from the fact that the whole house was bleeding...

Nothing new.

I went upstairs and when I reached the other floor I saw that I was in a different reality, in front of me was a corridor incompatible with the size of the house and at the end of it, there was a door.

The sounds of objects moving had completely stopped it was left for my imagination to understand what was the source of them.

I walked to the door, waiting for something to happen.

That place was completely normal oblivious to all the chaos that had happened out on the ground floor.

It was like being in another world, that stillness pissed me off, after everything that happened the silence was unsettling.

After every step to the door, I noticed it was getting increasingly distant, the way was distorting like I was drunk.

Finally, I reached the door.

It was inviting me, I put my ear next to it to maybe detect something that might be happening on the other side but I heard nothing, it was just pure silence.

I opened the door then a dark environment revealed itself, I wouldn't go in there carelessly 'cause the door would lock while I'm inside, so, I needed to look for something to prevent the door to lock by itself.

This kind of thing often happens in horror books, you know?

I looked in the wall next to the door and there was a flashlight fixed to the wall inside a compartment that had a message written on it:

"Break the glass in case of emergency"

I break it with my knife and took the flashlight it was malfunctioning, blinking from every three seconds.

"Better than nothing, I guess." I kept it in the pocket of my shirt.

Heading to the door I destroyed its handle with my knife.

I could see the room, even with the weak light of my flashlight…And go through that door was one of the worst decisions of my life. Inside, I saw one of the things that had marked my life forever, for the worst… And it wasn't unreal as before...

"You kinda left her hanging this morning, you know?" I heard a muffled voice reverberating in the room.

Erika was in front of me hanging dead in the center of the room, that place was an exact replica of Sayori's room, including the toys around and the bed that contrasted with the rest of that catastrophic environment.

Blood was dripping off her hands, that empty gaze was staring at me and I have to admit, back when I fucked the depressive girl's mind tempering with her files I felt nothing for her death.

In fact, I was happy with what I'd done because I finally took the player to me.

But seeing that scene again and that time seeing a real-world person, dead like that, adding the fact that she'd offered me shelter and food had turned my mind upside down and a lot of questions have arisen in my mind, like who'd make such a thing?

And why the whole scene looked perfectly like a suicide? She was normal until few… Hours, maybe? And just as the player or the protagonist of the game had felt, I couldn't digest that disturbing scene... I was taking the Karma from my actions, my mind was destroyed on levels that I couldn't even explain I just wanted to run out of that place.

Next to the body, which was still moving a little bit because the weight hanging in the hope indicating that the tragic event should have happened just moments ago.

I found a text written on a paper and to get it, I would have to pass next to the body even if it was only a human carcass I felt as if she still alive.

I passed by her in slow steps until I got to bed, then I to read the text, and of course, it was a suicide note:

"%%%%%%%%%%%

Get out of my head Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head.

Get

Out

Of

My…

Get out of my head before I discover what I've to do.

Get out of my head before she finds out the truth.

Get out of my head before I release my demons.

Get out of my head before it's too late.

Get out of my head before they suck your soul.

Get out of my head before the otherworld comes.

Maybe it is too late to warn.

A love shattered over the heads of necrophilous birds.

A love rotten as dead people.

A love covered in blood, which will never come true,

A love deformed by its unclean face,

A love dismantled by her obsession

Maybe it is too real to go back

Maybe you should…

Delete me."

That text was an adapted version of what I forced Sayori to write when the mental abuses I did with her reached the end, even so, I'd the courage to push her to suicide to get out of my way all because of idiotic and futile jealousy.

It was as if that letter had reacted to the change of my thoughts and beliefs after escaping to the real world.

And the worst part was that the text was slightly darker than the last one.

When I left the letter and turned back to the room the body was no longer hanging from the rope it'd simply disappeared into the air. A trail of blood was on the floor, heading to the corridor,

This is completely fucked up...

"Erika was not dead at all, it was just an illusion..." I thought.

I'd be completely vulnerable when I left that room so I wielded my knife and cautiously followed the trail. In the corridor I was wondering if everything was just an allegory of my mind or I really been dragged to a horror story, the problem is, I couldn't feel the sensation of being in unrealness, like in the game.

My mind was sure that I was in the real world.

I wasn't in a horror story, right?

When I entered the living room again, the phone was exactly where the blood trail was leading and it started to ring, I walked carefully to it.

The walls were still pulsating blood but I didn't see Erika or the knife-woman anywhere.

I went to the phone and turned to the living room to have the full field of view of the house. Then the voice of the phone said:

— Congratulations Monika, your sanity hasn't yet been corrupted. As the princess of this world, now you have the right to leave this house, you should feel happy to have succeeded in my test. I was preparing everything in and outside this house just for yooooooou!

— Just... Just let me out of this hellhole! If you're the one who is keeping me here I'll make you pay for this shit!

— How could you hurt yourself? — The person laughed taking advantage of her comfortable situation and soon continued. — Now, go out there and look I bet you'll like it. Because this world is now **OUR** world, where we'll live forever and this story would never end!

The call cut abruptly and the exit door of the house that was covered in chains simply opened.

I was free from that infernal house I'd finally get out of that nightmare but I knew... That would be worse outside, but my curiosity leads me to the outside world.

Before I touched the door I heard a different voice coming from that freaking destroyed radio.

— Do… not… trust… anybody…

After that I left the house and when I saw the outside world… I realized…

I was in hell.


	4. A World of Silent Screams

" _It's being invaded by the otherworld. By a world where someone's nightmarish delusions come to life_ " (Harry Mason).

Countless amounts of time had passed, my thoughts were scattered I couldn't move or do anything. I saw confusing and bright images as if I were on some platform just like a lonely cell.

Still, I felt the presence of things passing through me, my mind was immersed in that emptiness but my body responded to the stimuli of the real world, like the heat in the air, like everything around me was burning, this sensation made me wake up.

I opened my eyes and stood up, I lifted my eyes to understand what'd happened, I saw that everything wasn't just a bad dream: on one side of my sight, the eternal abyss of smoking lava at great altitudes that isolated the city and on the other side of my sight...

I saw that red light that in the height of the clouds illuminated the whole place. The clouds were circulating around that light as well as the strong wind gusts.

I began to think about what I should do next, it'd be unfounded foolishness to look for that girl inside the city, the problem was that her image was so like Naomi... Then I wondered…

"Why I couldn't ask that girl if she was Naomi?"

Thinking on her made my head pound and just looking to the way of that nightmarish city I'd the terrible feeling that this girl was going through terrible things out there.

Alone, alone like Naomi was back then, on that tragic day...

But if I'd any chance to find her, even the slightest I have to try to find her again before they find, I have to save Naomi...

I noticed something in my pocket: A message written on a sheet of notebook paper, it was crumpled as if who wrote it was infuriated or having a kind of psychotic attack.

I felt a terrible feeling about that paper, I was afraid to know what it might be and when I opened it I recognized that it was not in written red ink but in blood, something that made no sense at all.

And worst, the text was a message to me.

That wasn't the paper that I had before I lost consciousness...

 **Hometown**

"I confess that I was down because you didn't recognize me, you looked into my eyes and yet said nothing. Maybe the time has passed: 'I've changed my mind and I don't like you anymore.' You might say.

Which I believe is something natural, life passes by, people change and promises of eternal love turn into dust taken by the wind; it's been two long years, but I didn't disappear because I wanted to...

I was kidnapped... For those awful people of that crazy lab, I was in hell, and one day I could run away until I couldn't catch my breath anymore, hoping one day to find you and tell you how much I love you, looking into your real eyes and not through a screen of a damn computer.

If you still care about me, I'm waiting for you where we first met... I hope you still remember where it was, please come soon before they find me...

I'm risking everything by staying here, but it'd be impossible to find you in this infinitely big world if I stayed quiet, I miss you so much that I couldn't...

Please… I beg you to read this text and come to me.

Our hometown will be the place of our dreams again."

That was Naomi's handwriting without any shadow of a doubt, it was from her so in some way she managed to leave it to me when I was distracted... Who knows? I was sure that I didn't have that letter before passing out.

I still couldn't believe that the girl on the road was my girlfriend, she looked so different, she didn't look so much like the girl in that game either, maybe I assumed that image of the game was hers 'cause I've been trying to replace the image of a person given as dead with something artificial, that was the only way I could stand these terrible two years, and now I was paying for it.

I'd not have the words to meet the person I loved the most not after letting myself be devoured by own doubts. In the end, it'd be a second and worse betrayal to abandon her in the city.

So, I started to walk towards the city's access, it was still as hot as ever and the smell of sulfur was unbearable, like coming from a volcano, speaking which the city of Futeki was located on a plateau forged by intense earthquakes, but still, that heat was bizarre. The reality was responding to that dark energy spreading everywhere.

On the access road to Futeki, I felt the energy flowing to outside the city, my instincts were screaming for me to run away but I pushed my body forward, moved by my purpose.

Suddenly, a hole appeared on the road expelling smoke at hight height, flowing in all the road, the next hole could appear anywhere.

I went to the corner of the road and passed by, which hadn't yet swallowed the road, which was a matter of time. After I passed, the access road was swallowed by a crater of lave,

"There was no turning back now."

Afraid that more holes would open, I hasten my pace, my desperation was taking shape and size...

When I arrived on the mountain road, gusts of wind quickly made the temperature dive in just some seconds.

The red light disappeared instantly, letting only the night sweep predominate, it was so dark that I could not see anything. The pitch was absolute.

Luckily I had the cell phone to light up a little bit of the way, the light reached only about four meters, barring me from seeing anything far away, but since I knew that place like no one else, that was not the problem.

The problem was my imagination and the fear of what could be around the corners.

I passed the fourth turn of the road around the city and I heard steps along with mine, multiplying a sound. I pointed the light to my left, then I did not hear the steps anymore and... There was nothing beside me.

I wanted it to be just my thought because there had not been anyone since I woke, but my mind could "see" pairs of eyes following me on my right, or it was just an impression.

Just an impression.

When I was at the end of the road, I looked back and where before it has those bizarre abysses, there was nothing, like nothing happened.

Soon I was at the entrance of the city, I saw the welcome sign I could also see some nearby buildings if I point the light up instead of pointing forward.

Everything was quiet and freezing cold but I felt that this would not be my only problem.

The whole place was waiting for me, the city was completely empty and silent, so I raised two explanations: I assumed that people might be in their homes because of the crazy weather but I didn't see any lights on in the first houses nearby. This led me to the other guess that all the people left the city but an exodus in that amount of time would be beyond the impossible.

Moreover, I'd never seen the city so dead, even the spirits who haunted the place were no longer present.

The silence of the physical world portrayed the spiritual world.

This state broke when I heard loud footsteps on the corner of 2nd and 4th Streets. Someone is coming, she looked like a woman, or rather, like Naomi, of course, I wanted to be her, truth is, she probably just had to be some other resident of the city but I decided to watch her from distance to uncover about what had happened to everyone.

Perhaps she'd more knowledge than I...

Of course, I wasn't stupid to go there and ask, I already considered beforehand that all people were a potential threat in that macabre scenario.

I decreased the brightness of my cell phone and followed her, I hide behind the trees in the middle of the street, luckily she didn't even mention looking back.

At that moment, I believed that it could be a trap, she seemed to be very calm and her inner energies were stable, something impossible to a common person to be so calm in that hellish place, so I took a piece of wood with a nail tip, it was the best I would have to defend myself, I needed to understand what was happening and I knew that I was risking too much for it.

After passing through some streets, she opened the door of a house, which completely creeped me out making some tears of amazement fall from my eyes and the reason for that was simple: that house is mine... I felt a horrible feeling of what was about to happen next...

So I approached slowly, hiding behind a lamppost about thirty meters away from that woman after she opened the door, she simply disappeared into the air, like a ghost, even my spiritual vision couldn't detect any trace of her.

It should've been a way to attract me there, I left where I was hiding and went to the house.

I noticed two things right away, there was movement there a few hours ago because there were traces of human energy in that living room, another thing was that something like a fight had happened, this assumption was a lot easier hence there were several things thrown on the ground and a broken radio in the ground.

It was like a murder scene.

Blood spread everywhere, I immediately noticed drops of blood on the ceiling of the room, it was obvious that something was very wrong had happened there. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, scanning for some invisible threat, then I felt a presence of a spirit at the end of the corridor where the rooms were.

There was something wrong with that spirit.

Their strange movements resembled someone crying, I opened my eyes, walked next to it keeping my distance from the specter getting closer, then I closed my eyes again.

When I did that, I had such a terrifying vision that made my mind practically stop, I couldn't believe what in front of my eyes, I cried spontaneously this time for real... The spirit was of a woman, wearing white clothes...

It was my sister, Akemi.

I didn't know what to say to her, but I wanted to help in some way, she seemed to be in a state of numbness until she understands her condition, but she looked to have been killed a long time ago. Using my thoughts, I began to try to communicate:

— "Akemi? Akemi! What happened to you?!"

— "Brother? What happened to me? I saw... my body..."

— "What do you mean? Where?"

— "It's inside the living room closet. She, uh... She got angry after seeing that picture... I don't remember everything, I just remember that psychotic smile and feeling of weakness when she came to me… And… And…."

— "For God's sake… I don't know what to say, Sister... It was my fault, I should have been with you…". — Communication became more difficult because my mind couldn't stay focused, there was a whirlwind of emotions going on inside me...

Until I could no longer keep my eyes closed, they were also literally bleeding because of the overload by the use of spiritual power.

I had this power since I was a child, but it manifested more intensely when Naomi disappeared and since then I was able to communicate with spirits easily.

Unfortunately, I could no longer feel Akemi's presence in that corner, my little sister had been brutally murdered and while I was talking to her, the connection of our thoughts was so intense that I could see the whole scene, I felt her death just as she felt.

I saw a woman that I couldn't identify who, she was talking to my sister, and when she saw some pictures on my computer, she got angry and a big red light covered Akemi's sight, seconds later, that person advanced, and stabbed her countless times, then she was taken into the closet, agonizing and slowly dying.

I felt the same horror, I even forgot to search for Naomi in the house for a moment, I just wanted to find and kill the person who'd done it.

At that moment I promised myself that I'd look inside all the hells and worlds until I could stab the killer the same number of times she did to take my little sister from me.

Curse that person! I'd destroy that monster in a million pieces…

"No matter how long it takes, I'll bring justice to you, my sister...".

I heard a telephone sound coming from the other side of the house, I walked there, while I was making that short journey I could see traces of red energy coming from the rooms, someone of such a heavy aura passed by, but so heavy, that even the environment was being affected.

It should be the killer's soul traces...

I slowly approached the phone, which even though it was completely destroyed it still working.

How?

I could feel that traces of that red energy in that device too, and my feeling about who picked up the phone was even worse:

— Hello?! If it was you who did this to my sister I...

— Mr. Ken. The king of the spirits... I missed you.

I tried to find the place where the call came from to see the face of the person on the other side of the line but, my clairvoyance couldn't reach there because of an impenetrable mental barrier, which made my attempt to find the source of the voice in vain, but it was around the school of Futeki.

— There's no point in trying to use your abilities against me. If it was supposed to be that easy, I'd not have even started...

— Stop messing around and say what you want!

— Calm down, love... You are too nervous, Ahaha~, I can feel it from here, but I can't wait to see you, darling.

— I recognize your voice… These speaking mannerisms…

— Oh, can you hear me, love?

— You… It was you, Monika?

— Ahaha~. Yes, I am. I came back to this world together with the killer. It was not me who killed Akemi, was the person who wanted to take you away from me, she is the real killer, a monster in human form. I can't believe you recognized my voice! You still love me, right?

— Curse you. I don't care if you're here, just say the truth for once… Who's the killer?

She did not respond hastily, she was pondering what to say:

— Oh… How cute. You really are worried about her. I might be a little jealous, don't you think? I wonder how your reaction will be when I show to you who is the killer…

— Where… WHERE THAT MONSTER IS?! TELL IT… NOW!

— Wow. Do not be so mad, Ahaha~. Anyway, the killer is in the central theater of Futeki. In fact, that's where you should have gone in the first place. After all, the letter you received lend you there...

— Was it you that send it to me later?

— Indeed. Who else? Who else will love you that much?

— But, you write like Naomi, exactly as she… So…

— Oh. You aren't supposed to discover it already…

— It's kinda obvious by now... She was the original, and you're an alternate version of her... If I could guess it.

I could feel that Monika was taken by surprise with my fast deductions, even though I couldn't reach the school, where she was hiding, I could analyze her energy throughout the phone, was darker than anything that I saw before but was in the same pattern from Naomi's energy.

— Indeed, we're parts of the same soul. But she is weaker than me, she just has a dormant part of the Deva of pain while I'm the pure goddess of destruction and pain!

— Where are you?! I found out that you can observe me using universal awareness, so, you're in control of this whole mess, don't you?

— Dear "Captain Spirit"... I'm everywhere, on the ground, in the air, in people's heads, on the ground of this city and I will be inside even your mind soon; even if it's very difficult to destroy your mind, thanks to your mental strength…

— If you're really in control, just show me the murderer! I don't care about you, or even to Naomi. I only want to kill that person! Then you all can continue with this open-air asylum, I don't care anymore!

— Hey… Don't be so mad, I just want to love you, put you in a bed and have you for myself. Wow, that must have sounded kind of sudden. I promise I'll not be like this anymore. Ahaha~

— You... You...

— Ahaha... You are so cute when you are angry!

The laughter, the way of speaking, always with irony and ending with a crazy flirtation, which I used to like but it was just sounding sick at the time, at the end of the day she was truly a psychopath...

— Just… Just help me, okay? I want only to make the killer pay once for all! If this person is also your enemy, you can help me with it...

— Then, just go to the theater, my love. You'll see everything!

The line cut, but I wanted to stop the conversation anyway. It wasn't really possible for Monika to be real, everyone knows that the boundary between games and reality is very defined.

But that city was maybe capable to make things like that. And that explains why Naomi and Monika are like twins: Naomi was the girl trapped in the game originally, and that "Monika" is her counterpart, created by all this... The spiritual power of the city maybe?

It makes sense, don't you think?

Still wanting to understand what had happened in that house, I ignored the invitation of Monika and continued searching for clues until something happened: All the walls cracked, and the floor flew away, those same holes in the road appeared on the floor.

I couldn't stay there anymore and I quickly ran away before it was too late, when I left the house the hole grew and swallowed it completely, making a loud noise.

I couldn't even bury my sister...

In front of those ruins, I made a promise to find the killer.

I'd destroy the person…

I'd find that theater…

And finally, I'd find Naomi and help her with all that mess, she was somewhere in town, I promised that I'd find her too.

But vengeance was my priority.

The surroundings, which were calm before, the endless darkness and silence were gone. I could feel humanoids presence coming from everywhere, they were not exactly spirits, because the energy was dense as human bodies, but it was also too dirty to belong to our species.

I went back to the shadows, however, on the right side a person passed extremely fast, running, seeming quite terrified:

— God, what's going on? What's going on? This can only be the end of the world. This has to be a nightmare... Where is everybody? ANYONE HELP ME!

The poor woman ran exactly in the direction of those presences, to follow her I passed through the trees and lowered the brightness of the flashlight of the phone, Then I followed her until I met the creatures.

It was about 20 meters away, I stayed behind a centenary old tree, seeing everything...

I could see that my fears were real: There are creatures similar to obsessive spirits, but with a physical human body and a completely deformed face, semi-covered by a black veil, with huge arms or better like claws, they walk in groups of five and one of these groups encountered the girl. Terrified, she screamed:

— What's this?! Get back! Get back! Don't get closer!

In the twinkling of an eye the five creatures surrounded her as if they had just teleported, they had the same ability of spirits to project themselves wherever they wanted with the force of thought.

And with their physical bodies, they were strong creatures beyond all comprehension. The girl was paralyzed with fear, and the monsters at the same time stuck their hands into her stomach, and into her lung, from what I could see.

They pulled out every organ of the girl and threw her on the ground, amazingly she was still alive, screaming in pain so loudly that maybe the whole city could hear.

After that scene, I saw that the worst was yet to come, they began to devour her alive, only when they ate her heart that the poor girl stopped moving.

It was the most grotesque thing I'd seen in my life.

I didn't know what to do to escape from there without being noticed, I just wanted to disappear from that place.

But just as those things happened the five beings disappeared into the air, leaving only the girl's body behind. And I could no longer be absolutely sure that the presences were real or not.

I raised two theories: Or everything I saw was real because I had no control over the detection of those things, the world was like a nightmare in the REM phase, 'cause everything happened very fast and it was like being in the mind of a crazy person.

I continued walking carefully since I didn't know if there were more creatures around.

To get to the theater I needed to pass through five streets and then go through the central park, I was aware of the risks.

I was going there because of Monika's instructions...

I could hardly believe that I'd spoken with her, the only person who put my strength in check, the virtual substitute for what was my girlfriend.

I could almost hear her voice during my walk.

I was afraid of what might happen next, the world was very unstable, like navigating against tidal waves and the fact that nothing happened while I was in the streets was so unnerving.

I entered the central park, the place was simply a thousand times more frightening with the extreme darkness than walking there in normal days, after walking inside the place, I couldn't not even insects and animals were present, everything was empty and the air was calm, I felt that that nightmare would take another form.

Hate was my only feeling, I just wanted to have my vengeance, even though I was taught my whole life to follow the path of peace. It was like all of this wasn't worth it at all.

I could feel my hate around me, like an aura.

Several types of trees constituted the flora of that place, but everything was burned due to the intense heat of before, the flowers and leaves just evaporate. At some point about halfway along to the Theater I found a book of child's tales on the ground, just thrown there, I knew it wasn't a coincidence, in that world nothing was.

Next to the short storybook, I found a silver .38 caliber pistol, when I picked it up I felt a little safer but the problem was that I never used a real gun.

Then, I read the poem, that was also written in blood that's in the first page of the book:

 **Fear**

"I'm afraid of that thing I saw in the woods,

My _father_ said it was just my fertile imagination,

Which was very powerful.

I once imagined being attacked by a giant monster,

He was just like an elephant,

But It had wings and a scary mouth,

That creature said, "I'm gonna devour you!".

That was my biggest fear,

To turn a prey.

So, I tried to shoot that thing when it opened its mouth,

But I don't have a gun

Papa took my defenses from me,

I wonder if was him that give me that curse...

Where is everybody?

Help me, listen to me, save me."

What caught my attention was the calligraphy looked like Natsuki's, so I was following a good trail, I couldn't feel previous presences that had passed that way but it was progressing, maybe she was guiding me to find something?

Maybe all the girls escaped from their reality?

Hard questions to answer at the time.

Something told me that I was progressing to death, I believed at that moment that maybe the person on the phone was starting to invade my mind. She drove the whole reality upside-down, Monika was in control of that nightmare.

I can feel it.

I felt that my third goal was also to stop her, it was no longer a work of the supernatural, it was something different that I couldn't understand even though my life was always based on being between two worlds.

However, my spiritual gifts wouldn't help me with what was to come.

A big hole opened in the ground and in front of me, I heard noises that started low and gradually intensified. I felt something huge coming, and I should prepare myself to fight, running was not a choice.

From there a monster rose, exactly as described in the tale: It had the body of an elephant, an immense mouth, like a giant anteater, and at last, it'd great wings that miraculously supported its body.

I remember that I'd already read another story about that creature, it was a horror story. "The Tale of the Brave Hunter" that Naomi wrote; I confess that she was the ultra-romantic type, but when it came to writing horror, she had real talent. It was a story about a village that was invaded by a horde of monsters, I remember that I like so much the protagonist, but I couldn't recall her name.

"She was just a brave hunter". That line never left my mind.

And that creature in front of my eyes… Was also equal to that story…

The creature threw a gust of thorns flapping its wings, breaking the trees and rising dust in the air.

To escape, I ran to the tree on my left, trying to use it as a shield for those thorny knives, if I make any mistake in this "fight" I'd die in a split second.

That monster stopped throwing the thorns after a few seconds, and it didn't seem to be able to move. So, I shot it three times, just putting my hand out of the cover, aiming in its face.

Those shots caused the creature to land on the ground and slowly move towards me, its wings were lowered, as if it couldn't move them properly... I shot the creature in the head twice, but it wasn't enough to kill it.

'Til I remembered the poem: I should shoot when it opened its mouth, and there was only one more bullet in the gun holster, one last chance.

The creature crawled in my direction and opened its anteater's mouth to try to devour me, and at that moment I gave the last shot, causing it to fall to the ground.

Then an extraordinarily strong white light came out of the creature, accompanied by a sound, resembling a female scream. I also heard a sound of sirens like ambulances in distance.

When I opened my eyes I felt a certain relief, it was as if several hours had passed and that horrible scenario was gone, it was day again with good visibility how it was before all that mess started.

This nightmare is over?

I continued to walk, leaving the gun on the ground, 'cause it'd useless. After that, I finally managed to see the theater far away, it was an oval building, and there I might find the answers that I seek.

I thought that could be a trap, but for someone who no longer cared about its own existence, I couldn't care less about it.

I'll kill you, it is a promise. And I don't care who you are.


	5. Deva's Revelation!

**Naomi's POV**

When I saw the street there was an unbelievable vision, nor did my ability to write several and various stories help me to describe that bizarre scene: a circular red light was shining from the ground to the clouds.

That was so surreal, was so off...

I felt that all that whole thing had to do with me, it was an impression that I'd in the back of my head. I was in a real hell, I thought that the worst thing I'd ever seen was the whole mess in the house but outside was even worse.

The phone's voice was right.

When I faced that reality, some memories rushed through my mind were like these old tape rewinding scenes. One of these memories caught me: I saw that I loved someone before all that, two years ago, it was a serious relationship, I still couldn't see his face, but I knew his name: Ken… We wrote poems together and shared love letters, he gave me the best feelings of my life.

I could conclude that the light I saw in the eyes of the main character in that game was him.

He was my player. I was the original version of Monika and he was my player!

Oh god... He is that boy... I have to find him!

That's what I most wanted to believe, even though I panicked when I thought about him falling into to other girls during my long absence, the fear and anguish I felt a few hours ago was what'd made me faint: I felt wrong and guilted for having betrayed the person I loved.

In the middle of the street, I saw something that drew my attention more than the light, thrown on the ground: A blue diary, unlocked and it had a name on its cover but was unnecessary because when I started to read I identified his handwriting.

I read the only page in the diary because all the others seemed to have been brutally pulled out:

" _Today_ , after these two years, my life consists only of stay one day at my home and the other six in the Temple, outside the city.

Outside this room, I have to put a happy face covering my mask.

My plans changed radically in these two years, I had no interest in waking up the next day, I'd not have reasons to keep it up, besides my Master, the Deva of compassion, that guides me in the toughest days.

Even though I was just waiting for my life to pass until it ends, a little tragic but it was the truth.

Everything turned grey, everything became increasingly flat, every day that Naomi doesn't give any more news I felt empty and dragged to hell... She was my angel and simply disappeared from the city, disappeared from the world without giving signs or clues and I know that she couldn't run away like this...

I tried everything to find out who had taken my light from me. But it was just fruitless searches.

I knew just the obvious: It was not the case of disappearance that happens every day, she said that she was going for a walk near the school, and then... We never saw her again; moreover, the police strangely didn't seem interested in this case, even with all the repercussions that this disappearance had.

Everyone in the city, like my sister and the temple's teachers thinks that I'm stupid for not having forgotten this case and acting as a private detective, snooping around the lives of all the people...

I'd the thought that somebody knows what happened. It was as if everything was working to keep this case covered, a conspiracy that I defended alone for all these two years.

But little by little, all my hope became something increasingly distant and smaller. Anyway, I should stop writing in this diary and put an end to

 _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 "._

Those confusing letters at the end were coded, just like the code in the game I was in, a provocation of fate or whoever controlled that disturbing scenario.

I was drinking my own poison, drop by drop.

I was familiar with that code, but the ability to read something in Base64 is tied with being in the game, in other words, I wasn't able to read those codes, very beyond for my human capabilities, even though my thoughts hadn't yet been completely changed at that time things like my ability to play chess, to read code and even to program was completely non- existent at that point.

But I took the diary with me, just in case. Maybe my abilities would back sometime.

As I looked sideways, I realized that the rest of the text could be real... Everything was possible in a place like that, and it was really the handwriting of the person I loved, it was his calligraphy.

I felt remorse for having left someone who loved me in this world, alone, experimenting that kind of despair.

I wanted to say how much I loved him, which I did innocently in front of the screen of a two-dimensional game's graphic interface.

Why everything had to be so hard?

Looking back at the street, I noticed red lights in the lamps near the poles, while wind waves gusts from the northeast of the city, the direction of the big light just staring at it wrapped my stomach.

"I can sense someone out there, controlling the string of this madness". I thought.

I could feel true tentacles of black energy hovering over the city, at the height of the clouds, spreading everywhere.

 **(This power is mine)**

I heard a voice in my head, but I saw nobody close to me, I thought that was just an illusion and I started to go ahead anyway.

I thought that I could follow that light since seems to be the source of the nightmare but after taking that direction, to the school, I felt an inexplicable uneasiness, a pain in my eyes that imbalanced me a little, it was as if it was an impossible blockade to reach there.

Like a mental and physical barrier.

The problem then was that I was without a clear destination.

I'd just arrived in the city from a beautiful day to that hellish stay in that house, reviewing all of the scars of my past and then on the outside,, everything had turned into a horror scenario worst than I could even dream.

I did what was most obvious and the toughest: I went south to get out of town... In the opposite direction of the school, I walked faster than I could, something was watching me around the corner of the streets, that uneasiness... Damn.

When I got close to the exit of the city, next to the welcome sign, I perceived that the road simply ended there, starting again several meters ahead, it was a crack in the very elevation that established the city, the plateau itself was "wrong", that couldn't be reality, but if it was or not, I was stuck, again stuck, but that time in my own hometown...

And that city was somewhere between reality and non-reality.

My infinite epiphany returned, accompanied by the sound of the strong wind and the sensation of infernal warmth coming from that light. Even though the other entrances of the city were still preserved, something told me inside my mind that running away from the town wasn't a choice.

And maybe I'll never escape.

Immediately other memory crossed my mind, I was with Ken in a big place, with several chairs, we saw a show, I didn't have much remembrance of what we were talking about, but I had too much of the feeling that I must go there.

Would it be too crazy to think that I could find Ken in that theater?

Yes, it was complete idiocy, I didn't need anyone advising me that ok?

However, if there was any hope, I had to try...

I decided to go to the place of my memory: The Masaharu Taniguchi Theater, famous in the entire interior of Japan, which often hosts the largest drama groups of Asia, we always went there after school, we were that kind of couple, just like I said before a million times.

I'd give anything to feel the feeling again, to be next to him. I needed to reach that place, maybe he was waiting for me since reality really seemed to be just a dream, I wanted to put a happy ending to it.

Brushing aside my thoughts I gazed back, I marked that there was a corpse of a girl which I swore to god that wasn't there before.

I felt a chill in my spine as I approached, the person was holding a knife next to her heart and her hands full of blood, still bright red (I wasn't sure if it was recent blood or the red light in the sky that gave me that impression).

Worst of all, her face was the same as mine and she has in her bloody hands she had a map, almost all of it blurred with blood, of the entire city:

In almost every exit of the city, there was the mark both of "X" and "Loophole" written with blood, she also marked to the main buildings of the little town, such as the psychiatric hospital in the west, an apartment in the northwest, the theater in the east, the park in the center, as a large corridor that led to the theater and finally, the school of young people of Futeki where the red light was.

I paid more attention to the school, there was a marking with several circles and a short sentence:

 **"MONIKA IS HERE."**

I turned the map to look for something else there and I found a little text, that said a lot of what that girl was thinking before she died:

"I've been all over this town looking for that person, but I failed... I discovered a lot on my journey, I went everywhere in this town and if there is any sanity preserved in your life, NEVER GO THE SCHOOL, I speak from my own experience, now all I want is to run away, but run away to where?

Everyone else is dead, and monsters appear all of sudden, like a perfect nightmare.

I wonder… Would someone find this map? If someone is reading I'll pray for your soul, even if I know that there's no salvation here".

The high school was the primary source of that light, and I'd not make the same mistake as that girl, I needed to understand what was going on before I simply go for that light.

At that same time I looked in that direction, the red light stopped being emitted, leaving the city in immeasurable darkness. I turned on the flashlight and started to walk to the theater.

There was no sound, no light, no movement, my steps even resounded to the ground, so to speak. I passed some avenues and after some effort, something around an hour I found the central park. The facade was simply terrifying even with the little distance that the light could reach.

I'd a feeling that someone crossed that path before. Trails of energy or something shit like this, like Ken, would say.

Already inside the forest of the park, nothing unusual happened but I felt that something was waiting for me at the end of that trail.

Soon after passing through the immense forest, I arrived in front of the theater, it was a monumental building compared to the rest of the buildings in the city, it was in an oval complete format, those futurists. I was paying attention to any weird detail that I could notice, during that time that nothing really happened made me anxious, that the whole hell was literally "resting".

I only had a map to give me the directions and Yuri's knife to defend myself from anything that came along, I was squeezing that so strong, that it almost hurt my hand with it, but I preferred not to look at it directly, 'cause it made me think of things that I shouldn't think about and thoughts that weren't good to have.

In my right, near an access door to the theater, I noticed that a woman had appeared with her back turned to me, about seventy meters away, she was drawing something on the floor, I approached slowly, squeezing the knife harder than ever prepared to defend myself but suddenly she began to say, realizing my presence:

— You got here faster than I expected, but still, it's all set for you...

— Who? Who are you? — Of course, she was a redheaded, short woman who looked like me too... It should just be an illusion... It should...

— There's only one person here in this town, just Monika's exists here...

— Don't pronounce that fucking name... Why are you all obsessed with this shit?

— Obsessed? How pretentious... — The woman turned around.

I was wrong about that assumption that she was like me, looking closer it was the very image of Erika, the only difference from that woman I met on the bus had a mark on her neck as if she'd been sewn recently, and in that glow of the flashlight it was even more terrifying, somehow I could feel that being in front of me was unreal, just an image:

— Now that you're back to be a human, you've lost a lot of your intelligence, haven't you? — She laughed maliciously.

— ... I saw.. I saw your body hanging! All this mess has to be a nightmare.

— Technically yes. But nothing is what seems to be, is not so straightforward like you desire, you know?

— So, tell me how I wake up from this nightmare, or... — I pointed my knife at her, with my trembling strong hand. — I'll kill you again...

— How cute, you may not be Yuri, but you still a monster who kills innocent people for no reason, just to continue your journey for "freedom". Oh yes, you want freedom, you wanted to escape from that game, and now you're here, destroying the real world with your presence. You're really a failure!

—...

I was speechless because everything Erika, or better saying her illusion in front of me, had said was true, that world wanted to convince me that I was a monster, the real threat, and I simply didn't have nothing to say in return.

— I, uh... I'm not like that. I don't want a fight, if you let me pass, I promise I'll not do anything. I'm not a threat, I'm just trying to leave this hellhole!

— Congratulations, Monika. I didn't expect you to say things like that, well you passed the test! You can pass through.

That image suddenly disappeared in the air, she let me pass, maybe the answer wasn't stabbing wounds or blood. I got that murder instinct since I entered that damn game, that wasn't my true nature, I wasn't a monster!

I walked forward to the great circle that that image created, it was a red symbol with an eye in the center and around it has another minor circle, which had written markings:

" ** _NAOMI"_** written in the top of the little circle

 ** _"MOTHER OF GOD"_** written in the left

 ** _"DAUGHTER OF GOD"_** written in the right.

" ** _MONIKA"_** written at the bottom.

Studying that symbol gave me a headache impossible to describe then I heard a strange noise inside my head, people chanting a demonic ritual, childish cries, whispers of the dead, all at the same time.

I heard a clear voice inside my head while I was standing on top of the circle:

— Your eyes have woken up a long time ago, you just don't know it, it frees you to reality, it frees you, it'll kill everyone, it surrenders, it surrenders to me. Your eyes will turn red, like the blood of your enemies. Together we can be just one, and we can invade reality... We'll be GOD!

I felt something demonic while I was in that circle, so I stepped back with the fright of that voice. I was spotting, millions and millions of times, a sequence of images: We trapped into a game for eternity, as real as I, but in that remembrance, everyone knew what was happening.

I also saw the source of our hell that we four had to pass through, the "Monika Project", four bodies of young girls being used for an experiment where all of us were trapped, suffering, to give them the resources for their researches and to give Mr. Salvato his success…

The game was a record of one of these experiments, but we were trapped in various other worlds before. Doki-Doki was just one of those worlds, those simulations.

It wasn't about love, it wasn't about young people's wills, it was something else, there was something else in that world and that darkness was occupying the real world.

Then, I began to have visions mixed with memories: I saw the world being totally swallowed up by shadows, demons, horrible creatures, dead people, all rising and dominating the whole planet.

And on top of a plateau of Futeki, I saw a woman with a white dress, it had a mark in its center, a great symbol of Yin with various smaller ones. She also had the third eye on her forehead and was covered by the shadows exactly at the height of her face, so I couldn't identify her.

"Ascended, completed, with the power of Yin. I'm God, I am the present, the future, and the past. But there's just ONE way to fix everything... I'm going to use my final move too!

 ** _YIN'S PATH: REALISTIC DISTORTION!_** ".

The vision ended with that last sentence.

That vision would be the end of all realities, I had to find some way to stop it before is too late. I felt that I must do it, and the only way would be to get to school but going through all the places described on the map before, the "Don't go to school" meant "Don't go to school first".

In one click, that infernal chant stopped, the night gave way to the day, completely sudden, an illogical change of the ambiance, it was as if several hours had passed in a split second.

I took a deep breath, looking to the sunlight, and got into the theater. In the main hall, I saw that two doors led to the auditorium, it was clear that they didn't lead to the same place...

The door of the right was the most beautiful, because it was white and clean around a tidy wall, on the other side, the door of the left was broken and dirty.

Like two worlds separated by a wall.

I wondered if there was any meaning to that design since I was becoming used to perceiving everything exactly prepared for me. I chose that dirty door, by instinct.

The auditorium was in front of me, silent was absolute, not even the time seemed to pass there, I walked through the central corridor and noticed that there was a mirror that split the place in two, so it really made a difference which door to enter, maybe I made the wrong choice because the mirror didn't reflect anything.

But looking better I remarked that there was a completely rotten version of the auditorium on the other side of the mirror.

Like two halves of reality, the pure and the dirty, the right and the wrong.

The pure and the impure.

I sat on a chair that had "For Monika" written on it, I felt like I should do that and I was going into a kind of presentation...

"I had a feeling that good things weren't going to happen here"

Suddenly, a voice came out of the megaphone on the wall in the upper left corner of the auditorium, perpendicular to the curtains:

— Did you make it? Congratulations. I couldn't believe you passed my moral test so easily, however, it's not yet time for the presentation. I did it for you but also for your friend, after all, wouldn't it be fun to have someone completely ignorant in front of everything that's going on isn't it? Prepare to watch this entire upcoming show that I have prepared.

— I fucking hate you!

— Oh, calm down Original Monika, we have so much to experience, things didn't even start!

 **[...]**

 **Ken's POV**

Meanwhile, daylight was already dominant in Futeki, which already resembled a normal city, discarding the sepulchral silence from the entrance to the center, to the west to the east.

After half an hour, I was standing in front of the theater, recovering from the intense battle against that simply inexplicable creature, luckily I hadn't been hurt.

Everywhere was calm and peaceful again, near the entrance to the theater but I noticed dense energy circulating and converging to the place, I was also part of that energy because my thoughts were darker too...

I only thought of strangling the person who'd killed my sister; nothing else mattered to me, and I'd use my own hands.

I walked forward and stared at the entrance door to the main hall, on my right a few meters away there was a circle printed on the ground, that was an ancient symbol, called "The circle of embers" that's a representation of the recurrence of events and infinite rebirths that happens over the universe, the Samsara cycle, however, what makes that figure have a dark meaning is the grey square in its center, where the larger circle converges.

Turning it into something else much deeper.

There was an ancient legend of European origins, after the spread of Buddhism in the world, that scholars discovered how to get close to the power of Deva's, the beings who'd already reached the top of Samsara.

The plan was to remove a person's soul and throw it back into the body over and over again, the concept behind was simple: All people have doubts about what happens in afterlife, so showing the process of death to a human soul would be a way to accelerate their enlightenment and eventually cut off their path to becoming a true Deva.

This cult was disbanded after the leader killed himself, then, another cult called "The Chaos order" appeared in the 1970s following this same stupid belief that it would be possible to find a "shortcut" for enlightenment… But it has an important difference, they focus on transforming a person into someone so "enlightened" that it'd serve as a receptacle for a supposed Deva who wanted to help humanity to come to Earth.

And this receptacle would've got a mental resilience stronger than every single human in the earth, a priori becoming a union of the Deva and human, and its told that this fusion would create the "Yin Goddess".

Basically a goddess with unmeasurable power, her heart beats ten times faster than a normal person and her power is way greater than a simple Deva.

And this goddess isn't entirely good because she has an almost uncontrollable lust for the blood of the "unjust" and "unbelievers".

That's what they said...

Seeing that symbol had made me connect the dots quickly, someone was trying to invoke this Deva in the city itself or making sure to put him in a host, perhaps because of that, reality had changed so dramatically in those few hours.

And the fact that the city had returned to something close to normal indicated that something wasn't yet ready for the ritual to be completed…

As a scholar of these matters, I felt it was my duty to look for the source of these events, after meeting my sister's murderer, whom I felt had some connection with the receptacle….

I felt that the receptacle was inside the Theather too...

I entered the theater, bumping into its lobby, the left door was completely shattered, just like the surrounding wall, on the other hand, the right door had no sign of corruption, burglary, or anything like that, so I decided to go in through the left door.

The auditorium then revealed itself: The chairs were all in process of oxidation, the stage lights were all red in color and flashing regularly, as a sign that they'd burn at any moment. When I arrived in the center hallway, I realized that there was a mirror to the other side of the auditorium, where everything was clean and pure.

"This thing here has some meaning, I need to observe better to understand..." I thought, sitting in the chair in the second row to the stage. I knew something was about to happen, and I felt the impression that I had to wait a while.

Then the lights in the auditorium went out, except for the stage ones, a human figure appeared there and a voice echoed from a megaphone, wanting to tell a story:

— Two years ago, an ordinary girl was chosen to join our plan, stolen from the eyes of the world. She was sedated and transported to another world…

 **[...]**

Separated by the mirror, Ken and Naomi watched the presentation, things happened as the narrator dictated, a girl with red hair had been kidnapped by five men, soon they return with her on a stretcher, completely tied next to scientists, analyzing data in written records.

The lights flash, the stage scenery changes to something more colorful and completely unreal:

— In this new world, the girl realizes that she has been locked out of her own reality, in something the people of the real world call "a game". While her body was being tested and forced to face the boundary between life and death continuously to awaken the third eye to bring Deva from the path of sorrow to our reality...

The next scene showed the emerald eyes girl cried in a room isolated from everything else, there was only one chair and the windows revealed the infinite emptiness of that universe.

The Eternal Classroom.

Then a white light appeared under the eyes of the four girls, and the special girl, the protagonist of the play was delighted with:

— To test the strength of the experiment, we were able to translate that world created through the mental power of the receptacle into something programmable in computer language, so the game was created. The player would manipulate the girls to be his girlfriends, choosing a "route" for each one, except for the omniscient girl to purposely stimulate her hatred, pain, anguish, and remorse, increasing her power to new levels.

Naomi began to cry copiously as she watched it, sadness mixed with hatred, making the theater itself tremble, she knew that was her story; on the other hand, Ken watched silently, trying to figure everything he was seeing.

That girl's eyes on stage turned red, and began to wrap red ropes around the other three girls' necks, changing the ways they acted, eventually leading them to suicide, while the special girl laughed endlessly at her deeds, like a real psychopath:

— Endeavoring to change her reality, the special girl surrendered herself to the power of her third eye, blood appeared in her vision, then she took advantage of the personality traits inserted in those side characters to drive them crazy, so she could be alone with that light that shone through a fifth character, but her triumph ended quickly...

The girl was in her classroom, sitting face to face with the fifth character, they were locked for all eternity there, however, the player deleted her file, he was represented by a shadow behind the fifth character, the one who was stretching a red rope around the neck of the special girl, breaking it at once, making a horrible snap, giving a more than awful look to that act.

— So, this girl, who'd been code-named "Monika" had been destroyed by the player in endless versions of the game proving that the experiment was a success. After two years of this eternal suffering the original Monika, previously called Naomi in the human world managed to free herself, fleeing from the truck that she was being transported.

On a rainy day.

At that moment, Ken looked at the scene happening in front of him and realized that the girl he'd met on the road was really Naomi, not just an impression caused by the desire to find the person he loved most in his life, everything was beginning to make a little sense.

"It was her... I knew it, so there's two of her in this place, one speaking through the megaphone and the other, the original, on my side...". — Ken thought.

He was still stunned by the play that hadn't ended yet.

The scene changed to Naomi meeting Akemi in the student republic, going to the exact moment when she saw Monika's image on a computer screen:

— But this conquest, this grasp of reality that she got just quickened our plans even more, because when Naomi saw her own image, in the game: She realized that her suffering would never end and taken by that hatred, she murdered all the people around! And one of those people was... Ken's sister! AKEMI! SHE IS THE KILLER!

Naomi boiled her eyes in anger, couldn't buy that she was being manipulated even when she thought that was free, not being able to avoid her nature of killing innocent people just to discount her rage in others...

She realized that she was nothing but a laboratory monster, able to kill her boyfriend's sister, at that moment those memories came to her mind, Akemi naturally hadn't recognized her because of all the time that passed, and Naomi hadn't noticed that she was Ken's sister because of her own memory loss.

Ken stood up from his chair, making the presentation suddenly end, the truth had hit him like a nuclear bomb directly on his foot. His girlfriend was the character of a game, ran away to reality, and had murdered Akemi in cold blood... In the end, he felt his world roaring at his feet, looking to his right, he saw that on the other side of the mirror Naomi was also standing.

He then ran to that barrier hitting his furious hand on it, asking for the attention of the girl who went to him with the head down:

— You... Naomi... That's not possible. You can't be a monster!

She perfectly heard the voice of her love through the mirror but had never heard him speaking in that tone she barely dared to look into his eyes, but when she did it only made the situation worse:

— Naomi... Listen to me... There is no way the person I loved would do something like that, kill innocent people to get along. Real people, I know that this a lie, and, and...

Then the eyes of Naomi became red and a demoniac scarlet-like aura surrounded her. Then, he saw deep in her eyes the pure intent to kill and could see the truth, or what he thought was the truth...

He then doubts his convictions...

— It cannot be! I'm seeing through your eyes, and I can see that you've killed her!

— No! I am not that. Please forgive me, I'm not the one in control... Please, please, please, please, please, please! Ignore that lies!

— Forget it, "Just Monika," huh? Where would you get that ridiculous mantra? You're the devoted girlfriend of half the world's gaming community, are you happy about that? And yet... Killed my sister since she didn't do anything against you, if I was there with her, it'd not have been like that!

— I, uh... I didn't know, I didn't know it was little Akemi...

— So what you'd not even care about her, would you? I was right, the Naomi I loved was dead, you're a just a shell of her, a murderer, this is everything that I can see in your eyes because you're not my girlfriend or Monika, you are nothing! DID YOU HEAR?! NOTHING! AND I WILL AVENGE AKEMI!

Ken left, even if he had all the necessary understanding to reverse the things of that world, it didn't interest him anymore, everything he had in life was really destroyed and his hopes, crushed, and he'd enter the other side of the auditorium to face his Girlfriend.

Naomi got down on her knees to the mirror, unable to do anything, excuses would be insufficient, crying would also useless... There were no defenses, so she began to scream, in an act of complete despair, releasing all her pain that she had kept quiet during those unfair two years, where for her she had been forced to do all of those awful things of the past, and even now being controlled, and for a moment her scream was so loud that she shook the air inside the theater, bursting the mirror.

— **_DEVA'S WILL: ALMIGHTY SCREAM_**! — She screamed aloud.

The ground trembled all over the city, the plan to bring god to the real world had reached its highest peak, the ceiling of the auditorium flew away and was taken along with everything else by the tremendous current of air, it was the hatred and pain Naomi felt manifested, bigger cracks opened up in the ground, houses were destroyed at once, Ken was thrown away, hitting his head.

And finally, Naomi passed out, bringing hell with her.

A drastic change had happened in both of them, they were enemies from that day on, Ken would seek to slaughter Naomi because he had assumed that she was the source of all the misfortune that was happening in the town, and ending her life was a way to kill the past forever.

Naomi was immersed in despair but had to understand at least a little of what was happening if she wanted to save her own life and prevent becoming the "mother" of the Deva of pain.

In the shadows, another Monika laughed uncontrollably in her classroom inside the high school, and even further away Salvato observed everything and would wait for the right moment to enter the scene, everyone was ready to pursue the plan, the time had come.

 _The hatred inside Naomi grew bigger and bigger,_

 _Along with the god in her womb,_

 _When the time is right, the union will happen again,_

 _Crying is heard from a distance,_

 _For the hour when a God will be born into the world of humans,_

 ** _Rewriting history_** _._


	6. Corrupted Monika: Reaper of Worlds

" _But the irony is that I do have a creator, apparently._

 _And you know what?_

 _I bet he's still laughing at the miserable fates of Sayori and Yuri, even as we speak._

 _What are we to him but props in a scripted play? "_ — _Monika Act III infinite conversation._

* * *

I opened my eyes after that cry of despair I felt for the first time, the whole world heard me and my suffering had been noticed everywhere, Ii was a miracle that my ears were intact, which had no logic whatsoever.

Soon that concern for logic faded... The truth revealed itself to my eyes at that moment, the theater had disappeared, I saw only a few buildings in the distance, everything was devastated in a radius of a few kilometers.

I'd done this, the place became a wasteland.

I couldn't believe that I'd wiped out that area with just one scream, at that moment I recognized that I was more powerful than the rest of the humans, even if I was of flesh and blood and no more pixels and scripts somehow I was out of the mortal reality.

And started to think even if I was just only trapped in another game, more realistic and believable than where I spent those two years... But in that brief time, humankind couldn't develop something as powerful and precisely as real as that.

It made me sick to think that that wasn't the real world yet.

While it just resembled a dream of a confused mind, for it was real, the sensations were real, that thing I killed in Erika's house was a real person, they were not monsters or unreal characters, the most factual hypothesis was that the city had been swallowed up by a sick mind.

My mind...

Leaving these thoughts aside, I concerned about Ken, it was 99% certain that I'd killed him, since all that was left of that gust of wind was some wreckage and stronger columns of the building, besides a tree here and there, and by the distance between us, death was the most likely fate.

Just that little idea was enough to make me desperate, and, regardless of the horrible things he told me I couldn't deal with what could happen.

I ran to where the forest was through the countless wrecks, I would save him no matter what!

The scenery around me related something post-war as if a nuke exploded beneath my feet... Concrete, beams, distorted spine irons and a lot of rubble. I almost stumbled several times in my run and could feel my hopes disappearing and fading away.

After walking a few more meters, I saw Ken thrown on the ground, extremely injured.

"Oh god... No. No, please... Ken".

I approached his body and when I got closer it was doubtless, he was still breathing.

The vital signs were terrible his breathing was short, blood flowed to the various cuts in his clothes, I touched his face instinctively, I only thought of healing him in some way, even if he'll never love me again, I'd never let him die like that, buried, like a stranger or an insignificant person...

Then, a tear of mine fell under his body. This had made something unbelievable happen: All his wounds healed automatically, and his breathing also returned to normal.

I saw that not believing, but I saved him from death, maybe our love of the past made this real, I concluded that sooner he'd wake up, that relieved me but until I can't prove that I didn't kill Akemi we should be separated...

The right thing was that I should go away and let him walk his own path because loving isn't trying to control someone, it is letting go and admiring.

That has all I had left, and maybe it'd be better that way.

I don't even disagree with his strong opinions and his words of pure hatred, 'cause not even me remember what happened after seeing the image of Monika, at Akemi's house.

I wonder what the truth was: I was controlled by someone at that moment by the same person who set up that whole bizarre scenario.

"I love you," I said quietly touching his face before I left.

I got up and started walking towards the school. By the way, that red light was no more for a long time, besides, the weather in the city was calm and sunny it barely looked like hell a short time ago.

Speaking in time, something was off, it seemed like a week has passed but I didn't feel hungry or tired, so it couldn't be passed some hours since everything started, right?

The reality was broken, like a bad script.

I walked in the other direction always avoiding the bent columns and the sharp pieces of glass on the ground, I still didn't believe I had done all that and for a moment, I wished I was just a normal person, living a normal life.

 **(Karma would never allow that)**. I heard a voice say these words inside my mind.

After a while, I reached the urban area of the city once again, where my cry of despair hadn't smashed everything, the houses and buildings were standing, even though several buildings had broken glass on its windows, and several traffic signs were entwined.

By curiosity, I exclaimed the same thing that I said earlier in the theater:

— Deva's Will: Almighty scream!

That bizarre repulsive force got out of me, like an explosion, forming a shock-wave weaker than before.

"Looks like an interesting ability, I can push anyone that tries to get close to me… It means that I'll have to solve my problems with force? What am I becoming?"

I took my map that was totally folded but without major damage to see what my next goal would be if I really were in a horror game... I can imagine that beyond the "X" in the school, another point would magically appear in the map to delay my way there to give this sick story more "depth".

To my surprise, nothing new had been revealed, just that huge "X" where the School was.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so obvious...". I thought.

To get to that damn school, I need to walk some kilometers, so standing still wouldn't help, I walked as fast as I could completely convinced that there was no one else in that place but Ken and the thing/person who kept talking to me on the phone.

So, I won't find any problem to make my way.

Just thinking about that voice and the likely image of it gave me the chills, defeating that "Monika" might end the nightmare... And that was what mattered to me, to end that craziness and be free once for all...

I'd like to go as close to the west as possible and then go to the main avenue at the edge of the city limits, which was the shortest way to my destination.

My steps echoed in all directions hence the silence in the city was sepulchral, there was no wind, no heat or cold, the sun shone so brightly that I should have no reason to be afraid except that I repeatedly imagined something jumping in my face at any moment.

The nightmare was resting, but for how long?

Anxiety prepared me for something that never came because nothing happened, even my footsteps bothered me, the still air of what seemed to be a quiet and pleasant afternoon also irritated me, because I knew that soon the night would come again, and everything would return to chaos.

I arrived at the end of the first street looked to the side and saw the huge precipice of the plateau, the landscape was incredible when I looked at the horizon but this joy had immediately crumbled when I saw that the city was completely isolated by holes down there, it was impossible to escape 'cause all exits were blocked.

Something else caught my attention: a huge mansion remained intact on the other side of the road, just ere the horizon line, there were no other buildings around it.

That was there for a reason.

I studied at where I was and noticed that I had taken about two or three steps towards the gully without even noticing, before I thought about why I'd done that I heard a voice inside my mind like it were on my side, that feeling made me turn my back on the gully:

 **(You have no value, your existence has become finite in this world and yet you'll never have back the person you loved so much. But if you forget him, and join my side I can bring freedom to you)**.

I put my hands over my ears in the hope that I'd no longer hear that voice it injected shadows into my mind, I just wanted to that to stop, but it didn't help to try to ignore it, those phrases ricocheted off more and more in my mind without me being able to defend myself.

I got dizzy and fell to my knees on the edge of the ravine:

 **(A person without family, acquaintances, or anything at all, you'll never be real, even in this world, you're just a shadow, an abstraction of an autonomous personality, a piece of empty paper)**.

I closed my eyes, getting ready to throw my body into the ravine or stab myself in the chest, which both would end all that noise and would also satisfy the voice inside my head, but something caught my attention: As it happened on the secondary avenue, I saw a body with features exactly like mine, that was so a bizarre pattern, every time my life was in danger, a body like mine appeared out of nowhere.

In the last body that I saw, she had knife wounds all over her body and this, oh god, her body was crushed, she had a paper full of blood in what left of her right hand, the knife stuck in her chest, what was left of her eyes was also full of terror, but relived with death.

Seeing the death in front of me was surely one of the worst possible sensations to imagine, acid would rise up my throat, rehearsing vomit, while my legs trembled non-stop, I took the paper from her hand, tried to wipe the blood from the paper on my clothes, and then I started to read:

" **Demons**

There's a demon inside all of us,

But, especially in you.

Infinite epiphany, heart murmur,

Meat torn by monsters,

Effervescent cemeteries,

God breathing, valves breathing,

A red reality.

God being born, feeding,

Birth pains precede his birth,

Please don't die again.

If you gave up, he'll destroy the world,

But… If you won't give up… You'll be the reaper of this world

There is no happiness here,

There is no happiness anywhere

People can try, you know."

I swallowed when I finished reading those verses, without a doubt that place was still capable of scaring me and getting me on my nerves, the poem was like a warning, but very confusing, that's why I kept that poem in my mind, maybe it'd figure later.

Suddenly, I felt something terrible on my right, a dark energy appeared, which made the air denser, when I looked to see what it was, it was the most frightening sight in my whole life: a young woman, from my height, with her hair a little less colorful than mine, green eyes, school clothes, socks up to knee height, and...

That ribbon.

That giant ribbon tied to her hair left no more doubts, a perfect and real image of who I was inside that game, I fixed my eyes on her, without believing in that image and maintaining this eye contact gave me a headache, destroying by inside; I didn't know what to do, I just waited for her to say something:

— Can you hear me? Yay, there you are. We met at the literature club last year and... Wow, I am still stuck with these words, ahaha~ I need a little more time out of that world to make my mind clear. I finally got freedom for beyond that school, now I can move freely around the city... Anyway, it is a beautiful day outside, huh?

That's exactly what you've been thinking ever since the story began, that was the same voice as the person on the phone, things fit together she was who tortured me, it couldn't be different from that, in the end, my own past had taken on a form of flesh, bone, and the dark energy contrasting with its peaceful environment:

— You, uh... So, it was you, the perfect image of my past.

— Hey, hold on. — She laughed. — That was never a mystery, who else could be directing you to the truth?

— Really? All you did was make Ken getting mad of me, you rat!

I raised my voice to disguise the terror I felt, both of our eyes had so much hatred and resentment, she could saw from within me reading me like a book.

I bet that she'd also been a little nervous seeing me personally for the first time, I never felt before so much hatred in my life, only losing to the hatred that I have against the creator of the whole virtual madhouse that I spent long two years.

The Corrupted Monika, yes, I'll call her that from now on.

She laughed at me, sketching that damn sarcastic smile, I waited a while, squeezing my knife so hard that I couldn't even feel my right hand, seeing my manual effort, Corrupted Monika finally came back to talk:

— Knives? Have you learned to have this obsession with Yuri? Are you an edgy bitch too?

— If you're really my perfect copy, you should know the answer and since you know everything, just tell me, are you the personification of this nightmare? Are you the cause of all this?

Corrupted took a few steps towards me, only getting close to that thing could really destroy my sanity, the air itself was dirty I could feel destructive thoughts invading my mind, hitting and pushing it, I felt the inherent desire of suicide emerged because of the power of those green fucking eyes.

I couldn't move my arms or legs, my body was paralyzed.

She was getting closer.

Each step was unparalleled torture, I had to act, I'd to fight back, it was the only chance, if I wanted to get out of that hell I had to have courage. But my body responded badly, I raised my right hand and pointed my knife to Monika, then she suddenly stopped walking.

— Now... Have you really learned well from Yuri, haven't you? Self-harm is a very deplorable thing, don't you think? I'm surprised that you can still move, with all the thoughts I'm sharing with you, even if I bet you can't look away from my eyes... Well, because of your willpower to resist me, you deserve some explanations.

Corrupted watched a little to the landscape, and said being direct:

— Well... Killing me doesn't end the nightmare, it's killing what grows inside you and me. We both have the Deva of pain in our corpses…And my intention is to absorb your part, becoming a full God!

— What?! What do you mean by that?

— When you woke up from that reality, from the game, everything was fine and the world was balanced, just your mind was broken. And everything changed when you saw me... I mean... Our image on that computer. That created a paradox impossible to solve, then your mind created this world that we are right now due to the release of your hatred, the trauma triggered your mental powers and especially your third eye.

—Are you insinuating that I am the responsible for the world becoming hell?! — My anger was such that I moved my foot forward, just a few inches, desperately trying to escape from that mental prison.

— Who else could it be? Naomi... Don't pretend you didn't understand anything, I know you're not stupid... This's YOUR nightmare, YOUR reality, and YOUR condemnation for all your crimes. Trapped forever, next to all the inhabitants of the city.

— Where are they? I thought I was alone here...

— Oh, you don't know about them? This is odd... Well, they hide in the underground and call themselves "Resistance" you know? — Monika looked at the ground, sighed and continued: — But anyway, you just have to know that I'm the incarnation of your negative thoughts, and I've total control of the powers of my half of the Deva and of the nightmare. So, you're not near to my level…

— But I just wanted to be happy. I just wanted to escape, I'm not the villain in that, or in this story! You of all people should know that I'd to do something to end my suffering, otherwise, we would be trapped by now. Even if we're separated, you should show the least amount of gratitude to me! I was the one who escaped from that hell!

Monika frowned and the paralysis effect was less intense, my movements were returning little by little, I had no plan other than to stick the knife in those eyes and dump her body in the ravine afterward.

I felt the hatred flowing more than ever before maybe I could fight fire with fire, I thought of everything that Ken told me because of that bitch… But she just smiled seeing my glare:

— Ahaha~ Do you think excuses will erase the terrible things we've done? Look around you, the price of freedom... You deleted Sayori and even made a joke about her death. You made Yuri stick a knife in her chest. And killed Natsuki so quickly that she may not have noticed until now...

— I, uh... They were not even real! I did... What should be done! It wasn't what I wanted, I never wanted to be a criminal, I was forced to make those choices, you know that! I never wanted to kill anyone!

— Naomi... Lying to yourself makes no sense. It was our inside that boring world, a way to escape from our own epiphany. We needed some purpose to we wouldn't go completely crazy... And it worked, because Ken was one of the millions who played that game, you're the luckiest Monika version of the entire multiverses that exists… Mods, Fanfics, everything!

— The others… — I thought in all other copies of mine, of all their suffering knowing that they'll never be free…

— Let me tell you the truth straight away: the reason you've escaped and not any of the million copies… of all instances of the game, was that the light you fell in love, was Ken... Ironic, huh? So close and at the same time so far away. Your "love" drove you here!

Those words pierced my heart, the person who not chosen me in the game was my own boyfriend, he really deleted me after everything I have done to be with him and he recognized me as a monster...

My blood rose and then I succeeded to break the mental paralysis and look away from Monika, which surprised her for a moment but soon laughed back at me:

— Yeah, let the hate flow through one day you'll thank me for it. I'd be happy to fight with you here and now. However, you said a brief time ago loud and clear that killing those girls wasn't a crime because they weren't real but in a way, we weren't too... Because of your hypocrisy, you'll need to be punished and see some things before we enter in the real fight for this world, it wouldn't be fair kill you here and now, you know?

— I don't want to see anything, monster!

— Stop interrupting me for once please dear? Come here, child...

Monika stretched out her right hand with palm open, showing the written mark "MONIKA" that I also had and said, in loud and good tone words taken from some ritual:

 **— Deva's Will: Reality Pull.**

My body was pulled to that creature at a high speed like facing a black hole, when I was next to Monika she held me with only one hand, squeezing my neck violently, I lost all my air at that moment as I fought to get out of her control she sentenced with eyes closed for one last time:

— One day you'll understand, Naomi. Maybe one day you can really escape from your past but as I said, I need you to see some things first and they'll be just the beginning. Your path is rotten, child...Goodbye.

 **— Deva's will: Ethereal Darkness!**

Then she opened her eyes which became red, I felt my body being pushed back into oblivion. Everything got dark and I fell back into that dark place I had come out of, but it was a little different because I had all my sensations and sense intact.

After some time I returned to my body moved my eyes, adjusted my body, and managed to wake up from that trance that Monika had cast on me. I just felt hatred for that idiot, I was more than convinced that she was just bluffing about not being the key to getting out of that hell. I was sure that I needed to murder that bitch, to end this madness.

I opened my eyes, I was alone in the same place where I met Monika but everything had changed severely: The crimson light from the ground to the sky coming from the school returned and also the same warmth as before, this heat caused constant gusts of wind, I was really back to the "red world", which was as unreal as a horror game.

"Back here…." I sighed.

I was on the side of the ravine everything there was also so dark, the red clouds covered the horizon completely like the whole planet was immersed in darkness, pain, and death. The entire hell had gone up to Futeki City and beyond...

Immediately, I thought if Ken was okay, somehow I managed to heal his wounds and all I wanted the most was for him to be okay and... No... Screw him! Someone who'd the courage to delete me to continue the game after everything I did for him... I couldn't forgive him.

At that moment I decided I just want to get my freedom no matter if I escape alone...

However, all of this bravery died the moment the city center clock started to resonate, I saw emerging from the church a black and irregular torrent of... I don't know?

"That" torrent spread through the sky, I put my hand under my face to observe better and the conclusion was terrifying: That current was composed of winged creatures, which I couldn't distinguish well their specific characteristics, just mattered that they were terribly dangerous monsters.

I didn't think twice and ran fast as I could without even preparing for it, lucky for me that I was slightly athletic which made me endure that sprint for a few minutes until I found a building with the door open.

I speculated running to school, which should be about 700 meters away but I'd never make it in time to not be killed and being torn apart by those incomprehensible aberrations.

The first building with the door open was the mental health center of Futeki, a place I'd been afraid of since I was a child but I had to hide there. When I got close to the building I pushed my body against the door.

Already on the inside I picked up a bookcase in the entrance area, knocked it over and put it in front of the door to be a blockade.

I hoped more than ever that those creatures wouldn't find out I was there. But I had the impression that I'd find creatures far worse than the beings of the outside.

In fact, there is no safe place in Futeki City.

I breathlessly looked for a place to rest, in the entrance hall of the hospital there were few sofas, a large TV in the upper left corner and several notes and warnings on the green wall on the other side, it was like a little waiting and convenience room.

That silence was possible because of the lack of human presence in the environment and the truth is that in open places this sensation just annoys. But in closed places, it's a real problem.

That mural caught my attention, I know... I know... it wasn't a clever attitude when you are inside a madhouse probably infested with the worst possible and impossible monsters to be distracted by a mural.

But is there any correct behavior in a situation like that?

Fuck it.

I found a "poem" there obviously written in blood, there was also a yellow liquid that appeared around the sheet of paper dry and almost rotten and the smell showed one thing: It must have been somebody fluid, such as urine.

"BEATING BARS, SPINNING CIRCLES, WASTING GOD, DIVIDED MEMORIES, FIVE SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE, SCRATCHING KNIVES, MONSTERS PULLING OUT FLESH, ATTENTIVE EYES, BROKEN REALITY, COMFORTING MADNESS, DEAR BLOOD, DESIRED DEATH, WINGS OF ROTTEN ANGELS, BIRTH, GROWTH, BIRTH, DEATH, VIBRANT POEMS, EXCITED POEMS, PRESENT EXCITEMENT, RELIGION, FINAL SOLUTION, KILL MONIKA, KILL YURI, KILL NATSUKI, KILL KEN, KILL SAYORI, KILL YOURSELF, KILL EVERYTHING, KILL EVERYONE, KILL THE WICKED, KILL THE UNSUSPECTING, SHED BLOOD, DRINK BLOOD, SUCK BLOOD, REVIVE GOD, TAKE PARADISE, TAKE TO LUST, TAKE THE MAD, TAKE THE GRIM, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE.

I

WANT

YOUR

SOUL

HERE

AND

NOW".

I felt a shiver and an impulse to cry, I knew without doubt who had written those words, that bizarre and sophisticated calligraphy activated areas of my memory that didn't even work days ago, that made me realize what I didn't want to admit since I first saw Corrupted Monika: She hadn't been the only one who escaped from that game, the other girls were in that nightmare world too.

Talking about them, my interpretation about the realness was based on my subjectivity, I couldn't prove if the girls of the game were real or not.

I killed real people, they were like self-aware if that poem was really written by Yuri...

And of all the girls in the literature club, besides myself... Yuri was the most dangerous of all, just to imagine that she could be in that hospital with me, lingering in the shadows activated all the warning mechanisms, for a few moments I could hear her breathing behind me, like a ghost.

I took a deep breath and thought, "Now I'm screwed."

I turned back at once ready to defend myself or die trying but neither of the two happened because there was nothing behind me, disregarding that damn suffocating sensation.

I wasn't one of the people who believed the most in the supernatural, but after seeing so much, I was less skeptical about everything.

So I was partially safe, I tried to organize my thoughts to trace back to my priorities: The outside was an inaccessible territory, at least for the time being but I still needed to get to school to face Monika.

And before thinking about how to get to school I needed to find a way to fight her, because the real problem is that I, sincerely, don't have any chance to combat her either from ranged or in melee distance.

That girl is someone who could control gravity, reality, time-space like a goddess from an anime!

However, from what I felt, her powers are equally divided: Her eyes handle changing reality and paralyzing any person by infringing terrible thoughts in the victim's mind. The handprint controls powers of physical nature, such as gravitational control, and who knows what else she could do.

That damn Monika was practically unstoppable.

Which was also inexplicable because we were the same person that sounds confusing to me too, but if I'm going to take the things Corrupted was talking about at face value, she is the embodiment of my own fears and regrets, as if my fears invaded reality itself making my nightmares gain physical forms following that logic she was my worst fear: The ability to cause harm to others.

I created a monster.

One way or another, I needed to become stronger and find some weakness in her or anything that set me at an advantage, I also had to remember not to make obvious decisions because she knows me more than everyone else.

Anyway, to have stopped at the hospital shouldn't have been a coincidence, I hope to find something useful on those floors, and I still didn't know what to expect from that place because it was completely unknown terrain. And that silence was dreadful.

I walked forward, passing through the patients' access door which turned out to be a large waiting area with countless rows each with sixteen chairs.

That place also seemed to be abandoned for decades, there were huge cracks on the wall, and everything was very poorly lit.

The air was still, and I could see dirt on the chairs, I passed through all the rows through the central corridor and then I felt that something happened in that place, and I only understood that feeling when I saw traces of blood spread all over the floor.

"A fight." I thought, analyzing the environment.

Suddenly, I felt a squeeze on my forehead a little above my eyes, then I saw some confusing flashes of two figures fighting in the place where I was like somehow the past was repeating above my eyes.

The larger figure, apparently female, stuck the knife in the other image and then the scene ended.

The whole scene had no hidden meaning, it was literally a vision of what happened to the last person who entered the hospital, in fact, I could see beyond what a naked eye could. Then I turned my attention, following the blood mark to the service desk in front of me.

Fuck... Something's wrong...

When I arrived in front of the counter, I saw the handprint highlighted by the dirt on the surface of the counter, whatever the fight was it was something really intense.

If we were to draw some analysis from these marks, the victim had no way of defending herself and was trying to escape behind the counter. I followed the same steps and saw the outcome of that fight, a body of a teenage girl leaning on the wall of the furniture, holding a firearm next to a black drawer, where its key was still in the lock.

That body was still very fresh and didn't even smell bad, which was the reason I hadn't detected it from the beginning, so I went to see it more closely.

I hope she doesn't wake up.

I sat down in front of her to see the wound... A huge stab to the left shoulder, her terrified expression tells me a lot about the circumstances of the fact.

The girl was in a fight, ran off to the counter and was going to try to use the gun to defend herself, but she just couldn't do it. Like whom she was fighting gave no chance to her to defend.

I feel that the corpse would jump on me at any moment.

I slowly approached my hand towards the gun, I could almost see that body coming back to life to grab my hand when I got close enough.

I was literally trembling and ready to react, I was only two centimeters away from her and then I grabbed the gun hard and pulled it into my body.

However, that was still not enough for me I sat down next to her again and tried to do the same thing that Monika did for me: I closed my eyes, focused the pressure on my forehead and opened them at once, facing the body directly.

 **— Deva's will: Gate of life and death!**

The result was immediate.

I don't think any words would help describe what I felt at that moment, but I saw things I'd never forget: The girl received a breath of life like an electrical shock and gasped desperately for air.

A body in cadaveric rigidity had simply revived.

The girl sighed hard even though the blood should already be dry in her body, yet she could breathe and live as nothing happened, her eyes analyzed everywhere and she had an enormous panic when she saw me:

— What?! What?! Who the hell are you? I'm dead?

I stayed quiet, the surprise had really paralyzed me, then I let her continue:

— My memory... It's not coming... I can't think straight and... — Seeing the pallor of her body and the open wound on her shoulder, completely neurotic, she gave a cry of terror that echoed in the whole hospital: — Girl. Hey, lady! That's a dream, isn't it? A nightmare... What's happening to me?

— I need to know what you did here, who you were fighting with?

— I, uh... I don't know. I couldn't... I was Going home, going to the underground... Before... Before twilight.

I heard twice now about this "Underground", Monika wasn't talking nonsense, there were people under our feet, probably hiding from the wrath of the nightmare world. Maybe, just maybe I can find help.

— So, what happened?

— I saw the night coming and I had to hide here, then I saw that purple-haired girl!

— Oh, God... And where's this underground?

— It's got... It's got... There's a way... A trapdoor for the underground in the basement of this hospital that can only be accessed with the key that is on the fourth floor, they left that there last time I passed here. Please, lady, save me, This wound will kill me!

— Oh, child... — I sighed, understanding that she was out of any help. — You, uh... You're dead.

— What?! What?! What do you mean? Are you out of your mind?

I closed my eyes, looking away and then the woman stopped moving, poetically returning to the void of death.

With her mouth open, as if she wanted to say one more thing and to live one more second, surely that whole scene was the most random and crazy thing I'd ever seen: My eyes were able to revive people for a while, to heal...

And maybe hurt them.

I got up and went to analyze the shelves at the back of that space, several medical books, exam guides... But searching through the books, I found one that stood out.

"The Portrait of Markov." It said the name on the cover, it wasn't a coincidence, it was the most fucked up book in all of history the one that Yuri so bragged about, maybe it had something new for me since it is there at that moment was completely purposeful.

That eye printed on the cover made me upset even now.

Right on the front pages, I found something different from the original story, a passage... About me... I mean, about us:

 **The Ultimate project M.Y.S.N — Becoming living goddesses**

Since a city entered its own apocalypse, it has freed itself from the bonds placed by those who wanted to make the world of the Deva's close to the human world, the human who did all successful experiences to make this true is who'd a steel mind, able to manipulate and coerce any innocent person into the worst possible actions.

But the subject more developed managed to escape from that prison of Salvato, but only after she received god in her womb by a ritual performed in the theater by her nightmarish counterpart that woke up when the nightmare was born.

We also have news that all the other three characters from the game are actually active in different areas of Futeki city. This city was chosen for being the connection between the two worlds so it has great spiritual energy around it mainly because it was the commotion of an accident that killed hundreds of young people.

The first goddess then was divided when she managed to obtain transcendence, one part is hatred, the other... Even more hatred, perhaps in a purer form.

Therefore, they both manage to do things beyond the divine, such as gravitational control and the ability to revive the dead, control time and everything in the physical world, restricted to an area of 100 square kilometers of damage that the two could do, in theory. Their third eye is the most evolved, thanks to the junction with "god."

The second goddess can kill anything with any attack from her cutting weapon, the slightest injury is enough. She can also expand her consciousness in all directions, her potential damage can be about a block from a small town. However, her real divine capacity is to project illusions into that limited area, as powerful as she.

The third goddess manages to lead the happiest person to an infinite melancholy impossible to overcome, causing her opponents to commit suicide even before they can get close to her. Her other skills are unknown.

The fourth goddess considered the weakest of all the others, can invoke any creature in her imagination, disregarding any rule of logic, like giant dragons.

These are the preliminary results of the analyses made under the city of Futeki on a confidential basis. If the two parts of the first goddess come together, The Deva that lives inside hers will be able to expand their power to the infinite, and the whole world will become something else.

The paradise",

I closed the book and left it on the shelf, that was really great information to learn how to survive in that place, I was half of the first goddess, and Monika was the other one.

Yuri was the second goddess, Sayori the third and Natsuki the last. And for what I had gathered information with that dead girl, I would encounter a projection of Yuri becuase I was in her territory, which meant that while I was in that hospital...

No place would be safe.


	7. Underground: A safe place

" That's why I think the key to happiness is to just be hopelessly selfish" Monika. Act III Infinite conversation.

* * *

That scream destroyed everything and the strength of the wind is beyond any comprehension that it threw me up, while the theater turned into dust I could not think of anything but my own death when I fell in the ground, because I had been lifted to an extremely high height by the force of that wind. It looked like an atomic explosion that has Naomi as the epicenter, a repulsive force capable to destroy a city easily, it was visible that it was a scream of despair.

Scream of pain.

That moment lasted forever, maybe Naomi was really a monster and she could be no longer the person I loved and she was, in fact, Monika all that time even though she just wanted to escape from that hell... it was already inside her.

Futeki had been brought to unreality with the presence of Naomi, the town was in a borderline between what is real and what isn't. But, none of that mattered anymore, after all, I was finally going to die, and that thought came to mind at the same time I felt the impact.

When I hit my body against the ground, everything turned black.

However, It'd not be the end.

— Ken? You came back here one more time... Why do you disdain your life so much?

The sweet voice belonged to the Deva of compassion who guided me through my whole life journey, and which always appear when my life was in danger, so she was already used to my stupidity:

— I don't even know what to say anymore, I'd promised that I'd not risk my life, but this time... It wasn't my fault.

— You don't have to apologize. — She looked directly into my soul with those loving eyes. — This time, the person you've always wanted to meet is broken into pieces.

— All I have heard, before, in the theater... Was it true?

— Yeah. It was true, Naomi killed Akemi, but this doesn't mean that she did that on her own.

— I don't understand...

— Naomi is physically divided into two, the one you accused and blamed is the Naomi that you know. The other one, called "Corrupted" is the malignant half, which controls the Nightmare, she is responsible for all the hell that Futeki has become... Naomi is being used and partially mentally controlled by the Deva inside her and influenced by the other half…

Even she was worried about what words used to explain something like that to me, the tone of her voice was so serious that I felt that everything that was happening in Futeki was much worse than it seemed.

— Listen, it isn't your job, duty, or anything like that to kill the two halves. However, this reality is being broken in pieces by its mere presence here...

— Kill Naomi? I can't do that, I wanted to do it before but if she did what she did because of the other half… Only the other half deserves to die!

— That's wrong! You don't understand a thing about it! Listen for once, Ken! If Naomi and Corrupted stay two more days here, the world will be destroyed along with all realities, she must die!

The Master looked at me as if she'd found something in me, her eyes no longer saw me they saw through my body and soul, soon she said in a powerful voice looking away for me:

— Get out of there! I see it clearly, this's a space that you're not welcome...

— What?! What is happening to me?! — A wound opened in my hand, and from it came not a drop of blood at all, but a black smoke which then took shape.

It was a perfect copy of Naomi, but with red eyes and a dark face being in that presence was horrible, the negative energy flowed through that shadow which even seemed to be part of it, besides, the ribbon tied in her head didn't allow me to get confused.

Monika.

— You have shown your form, evil creature, I'd never imagined that you could reach even the subconscious of my pupil... It looks like you'll always be the same. You and your dirty ways, Deva of pain taking this human form...

— I say the same about you, however, finding me was your biggest mistake here you two are at a disadvantage because I'm in everything and in everyone.

Inside my mind would happen an open battle between deities, but the evil aura of Corrupted was much bigger than my Master's. Silence came over the environment, I stayed a little far from the two, they stared each other seriously.

— Even if you changed your appearance since the last time we faced each other the outcome will be the same... — Said my Master pulling a long sword.

— No, dear goddess of compassion. I'm better than ever it's not just some power-up, I'm far beyond your level. You know, erasing you was the last thing I would do, after erasing your pupil and your girlfriend. But fate wanted that to happen in another order, so be it. I'm just a shadow of Corrupted that lies inside of everyone... But I have the same strength!

Master moved towards that monster, who also did the same, clashing their weapons in the middle of the place.

— Well, it looks like you're still in shape, huh Deva of compassion?!

— I say the same to you, even in this form of a fragile girl you still have your strength, but you'll lose this again, you monster!

The scenery around me began to tremble and light green energy invaded everything around me, it was so warming that it drew the attention of everyone, especially that being:

— Now... Asaki also inherited your powers? That's... Impossible!

Corrupted Monika retreated and faded away. Without understanding anything that had happened, I asked my teacher:

— What the...? What just happened?

— You saw that monster, she was the evil part of the Deva and apparently, she can now invade people's minds... And you know that Naomi will eventually become equal as her, it's unmistakable. But now she healed your wounds and left away.

Everything disappeared and then I opened my eyes as I'd come out of a nightmare.

I was lying on the ground and I only saw around was rubble and more rubble, yet I felt welcomed, welcomed by an indescribable love.

Even if my mind didn't understand what I saw and felt I knew for sure that Naomi had saved me from certain death, healing me from deadly injuries, there was no other explanation of how I could've survived that bizarre impact.

I stood up, thinking about what my Master had said, she was never wrong, she was who I trusted the most.

But she basically said that Naomi wasn't trustworthy, not only that, she said that Naomi was the real villain in that true tale of terror that we all are living through, but Naomi saved me with her love, I know that was her, even if I didn't saw it.

Come on, I'm not such an idiot, the voice of the phone sounded just like that shadow that faced my Master, and that evilness could only come from someone like Monika not from Naomi... Somehow, they were divided.

Two halves of the same person.

Monika was split in two in the process, Naomi Asaki, my eternal girlfriend, the person who really got stuck in the game... And Monika, the representation of the insanity got by the time that Naomi passed there.

That realization had brought me to my knees again, letting some shards of glass enter through my skin.

I yelled at Naomi, putting all the guilt of everything on her shoulders, when in fact it was the fault of Corrupted I was wrong for threading Naomi like an enemy, like a monster.

I always knew that behind a character called a psychopath by the community, there was an angel, deep down, she was the most caring person of the world.

But Master told me that Naomi will become evil like Corrupted. Maybe, I can save her if I find her and talk to her before it's too late!

Akemi had been killed by that shadow too, it was the most logical idea, and I'd have to take my revenge for that demon, and for change that world there was no time to cry or mourn, I'd to see the bright side of things, my girlfriend is alive!

And she needs me more than ever, I can hardly imagine what she is going through how much pain there's in that heart for being that two years cloistered with unreal friends, crying out for an escape.

I stood up again, looking at the devastated landscape.

After turning around, I saw a girl walking through the rubble, looking for something or someone. Would she be a city dweller? A person? Or just a hallucination?

Without difficulties I approached the person, it was a girl of low stature, her face was frightened and she even not noticed me because she was so focused in her quest, she looked like a warrior of a fantasy novel:

— I'm sorry, but...

— Ah! — Scared, the girl took steps backward. Raising a bow. — Who are you?! What are you doing here? Are you a friend of that monster? Stay back!

— Hey, it is okay, I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to know what happened here.

— Oh, God... You dare to walk alone and unarmed in this hell, it isn't because the night has gone that you should be so careless!

The girl kept the bow in her back and kept staring into my eyes, analyzing me without believing that I could be there in front of her. Faced with all the strangeness of the moment, I tried to answer disguising my nervousness:

— I haven't seen someone so dumb since this craziness started, there are creatures here that we all know don't exist! Things I know are just creatures from fairy tales for kids, yet my eyes won't let me lie...

— I see… — She wasn't believing my story, but she wanted to hear it 'til the end.— You seem to don't know what's going on here, so I wonder how you survived all this time on the surface along with all these monsters that appear in the night...

— Going through hell... I was fleeing of the town moments before everything went insane, and then I am here. This is the truth and like you said I'm unarmed and it's a miracle that I'm alive...

— For what reason in God's name did you come here if you could stay out of town? Anyway, I can fell your sincerity, even your history of how you got here is completely insane...

For a moment, I felt I could trust that girl her energy was intense, yellow and she had a good heart... I could see it. However, black spots were in various points of her body that were traumas, very heavy ones. But I also felt that she had an urge to help others unconditionally, so I asked her what I want to find:

— I'm looking for someone… She has green eyes, redheaded, pale skin, about my height...

Why couldn't I describe her so well? Her image was so blurry in my mind...

— You're not talking about Monika, are you? The incarnation of the Deva of pain? — She raised her eyebrows, distrusting me.

— What do you mean? — I was playing dumb to get some information.

— This person you just described is the reason our city is in this whole mess... I don't even want to know where that monster is besides where does that interest come from? Impossible to believe you're oblivious to everything that way and you're searching for someone who could be the twin of Monika...

— I don't understand any of that, one hour was all right and now... It's all that shit. — I wonder if I could keep that ridiculous lie that long. — And after all, what are you looking for?

The girl looked at me with an air of contempt I could see her suffering clearly, but it was necessary to pretend that I didn't see it, especially so that I didn't think that Naomi was whom she wanted to defeat.

The story was too complicated for that moment. I promised myself to tell the truth after a while.

When she would answer me a moderate gust of wind passed us, it was like a light breeze from a quiet day. However, the girl didn't see it that way:

— We need to leave now. Soon the night will come… And about him, I don't think I'll ever see him again...

— Him who?

— My friend... He was searching for food on this side of town when I heard the explosion, and everything collapsed… I knew that he is dead, but I came here in the hope to found him… The night is horrible... Terrible. It takes everything we love the most, without explanations or warnings.

— I, uh... I don't know what to say. — I have never said anything so honestly. I could see the energy point of her heart partially dark, I was right all the time about the trauma she had suffered.

— It's ironic... A person who was worth the world to me is under the whole pile of rubble in this place and I'll never see him alive again. But you who I don't even know is in front of me without even an injury... God must be laughing at me right now...

There was nothing I could do but feel bad about such a coincidence. It's amazing how valuable we're to some people, and to others, our existence wouldn't even make a difference. For a few seconds, I looked away, where the wind gust had come from I wondered why everything had to be so awful, so... Hellish.

— I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say this to you, and my name is Luna. — She apologized and stopped holding her bow and just put back to its compartment.

— No offenses have taken. I saw that you're a good person since the beginning of our conversation, I'm just looking for someone important to me, I need to save her at any cost… And my name is Ken Ikeda...

— What if she's dead too? What if her destiny were the same as my friend?

— She can't die. I think.

Luna was caught with that phrase, completely low guard for a sentence like that. Given her experience in facing the red world.

— What do you mean? If she isn't Monika, who is this person?

— Her name is Naomi Asaki. I loved her, and she's not this Monika, even if you said they were almost twins you've to trust me and...

— It's okay. You don't have to tell everything already, it seems like you're not comfortable saying yet… She's important to you, right?

— She's my life.

— So maybe someone can still be happy at the end of this story. Anyway, we need to run, night is coming...

— It isn't a clever idea to run around with so much debris, we could end up getting hurt...

— Dead people don't bother with injuries...— She coldly said. — So, come with me. Now!

Hear what it was like being hit by a knife, not because I felt sorry for Luna, but yes,

Because it applied to me too.

As we walked around all that rubble, I couldn't get Naomi out of my mind, I wanted to apologize to her, escape from that hell and start everything all over again.

It has been my dream, even if I had tried to cover her absence with the character she had become, damn it, every time I thought about it, everything became more confused...

 _"If I don't know how to love you, I'll leave you be"._

Her final words never came out of my mind, even though millions of people had gotten to know the literature club what really was and some people took it seriously, others just thought it was another game that was fun and scary. Among all the millions of copies of my love, when I read those words, my heart knew that the message was for me.

Just.

Me.

When I saw her on the road, I knew there was something special about her emerald eyes.

And at that moment, I decided that I'd cross the world to reconcile myself with the person I love most in the world, I'd no longer measure the consequences. My life would only serve that purpose.

She wasn't pure evil. Maybe Monika is, but not Naomi… I know it!

Carrying those feelings with me, I saw that we'd reached the other side of the city and everything was excessively quiet so I opened my mouth to ask the million-dollar question:

— What happened to all the people in the town?

— We're hiding. Who survived, of course...

— What do you mean?

— Underground, the only place Monika can't get to... That despicable creature.

— I still don't know about who you're talking about, but if this Monika is the one causing all this, we better not cross her path.

— Sometimes I don't know if you're just pretending to be an idiot or innocent like that, but anyway... The others have brought the Deva of pain into our world, that's something they have always wanted to do. Ironically, the form that this thing took is that of a Video Game character, insane as hell... Besides, it isn't possible that you just arrived here now… Right?

The same way I wanted information from her, she wanted it from me. She still didn't trust me completely, and I didn't expect her to do so one day, with so many traumas... The big problem was that I couldn't tell her about the whole story of Naomi and not my whole story either...

— Well, I live in this city, I was on my way to another city when all roads cracked, and everything was isolated. At the time I wondered where Naomi, my girlfriend, was... Because she lives here as well... Then, when I was back here everything started to fall apart and my eyes saw horrible things... Like a complete creature taken from a horror tale story that I faced in the park... I still don't even know how I was able to face such a thing... I survived the night and was in the theater at the time of the explosion...

— So, you're not that weak... A person who survived one night alone, I'd lie if I say I'm not impressed. And without any injury…

— It's because I have my secrets. — I said smiling, referring to my spiritual vision.

— Maybe finding you wasn't such displeasure so... You may be useful for the Resistance.

I preferred not to continue the conversation, I could read her enough to attest that she wouldn't tell me what she was thinking about, at least at that moment.

Suddenly, I felt a concern that cut my heart out like a cry from a distance from Naomi, and when I say, "from a distance," I mean, miles... So, I stopped walking and tried to concentrate, noticing that Luna asked:

— What's the matter?

— Wait. Please...

I closed my eyes and directed my consciousness towards the way of the scream it was near the dark part of the school a little further near the end of the city. The scene shocked me that I started to tell it aloud:

— Two people near the school… They're women's... Naomi! Naomi's there!

— Wait, what are you talking about? Oh... I see, clairvoyance. I should have noticed, so all this calmness and ability to convince people... Well, what else do you see?

— A figure, shrouded in shadows, not very tall and the dark aura expands in all directions. She has a ribbon in her hair.

— No, no. That is not possible! Your girlfriend is face-to-face with Monika!

— By the looks of it, they'll fight but that Monika-person have the power of a God!

— Oh... Well, in a situation like that, without any other alternative, I'd do the same... How far we're from she? Maybe we can save her...

— Four or five kilometers, on the opposite edge of the plateau and... No!

— What?

— She used a force... Gravitational force and pulled Naomi. I can hear the conversation...

 **" _Deva's Will: Reality Pull"._**

— Oh, God... She is holding Naomi's neck. And now that thing closed her eyes, the energy is revolting around her hastily than ever...

I couldn't even try to understand what was happening, Naomi was attempting to fight with the source of all that mess alone and she was taken easily by that villain.

— And now Monika said:

 **" _Deva's Will: Ethereal Darkness"._**

— DID SHE SAY THAT? KEN! COME ON!

— But, uh...

Luna pulled me as hard as she could to get me out of my concentration. Something had happened, something had happened...

— Monika will bring the night. We need to find shelter before it's too late. The transition is worse than the night itself...

Without having time to respond, a strong wave of wind struck us followed by the red-light, something characteristic of the infernal world from which Luna called "The Night". We ran to the opposite side of the school until we arrived in a kind of trapdoor in the middle of the street.

— Over here!

Luna used the mechanism and we descended the stairs and the wind sealed off the entrance.

— I, uh... I'm sorry, Ken.

— Why you say sorry? You saved me to face one more night. It must be hell out there...

— I'm not talking about that... I know you'd want to help her, and I stopped you with all my fear. Fear of the Night...

— Offensive impulsiveness isn't a desirable choice in situations like this, you know? Sometimes it's better to act defensively so that you can have a better reasoning space afterward.

— I know what you mean. Anyway, that's the way to go. — Said Luna pointing her finger to east.

We were in a vast network of tunnels, it seemed impossible to me that there would be a group inside the mountain, I should feel them! That's probably why they chose that place far from any extra-sensory range.

The tale of the underground was real!

Torches lined up every ten meters illuminated our way, I couldn't hear the chaos up there anymore and don't get me wrong I really wanted to run to Naomi and try to save her, but I knew I couldn't make it in time and...

Naomi is sure to be able to handle the underworld.

Love involves trust.

And I trust that she'll be able to survive the night.

Admiring the network of tunnels I said to Luna:

— It really is a Resistance... I mean, the inhabitants of our city had known for a long time that the world would fall apart to make those preparations. But unfortunately, the Apocalypse of Futeki is a tale that hasn't been passed on among all the families here, at least not the youngest, as any oral tradition hasn't been able to reach everyone at time… And principally the people of the surface... I was one of whom discovered the truth in the tale of your people, Luna...

— Oh, I see, that's why everyone on the surface except you have died when the night comes, what's happening now was a tale for kids of the surface...

— Yes, they also said that was just "A history for fueling the craziness of conspiracists". Anyway so here's safe?

— We hide here before everything goes crazy and all… Here is prepared to be a hideout from the eyes of Monika.

— Sure, of course.

— Well, our way will take a while, so I think we can tell you everything... So, uh... The spiritual energy of this city became too active when there was that nightclub tragedy, many spirits were wandering aimlessly around there taking many problems to the real-world and...

— This part I already know very well, I saw by myself, moments before The Night arrived all the souls of these young people fled, and the spiritual energy was swallowed all at once in the direction of the school, that's as far as I could see.

— Oh... That's... That's right. The complex part is after that, the energy of the city was essential for the religious of a secret society to awaken a divinity, the Deva of pain. This creature was cultivated inside a young girl who was kidnapped two years ago. Through bizarre rituals, the being was inserted into her womb while her soul wandered into a computer game.

— Wait... — I at once stopped walking.

— What's the matter?

— I'm sorry, I don't think I'm interested in that anymore...

Yes, it was a cut worthy of a sharp knife but the shock was too great that I tried to hide my amazement with that information. That's why they kidnapped her, damn it...

— But this is where the most important part comes in...

I couldn't keep that secret anymore, I was always terrible on lying anyway, so I pulled my necklace that has the photo of Naomi hidden behind my shirt and I showed it to Luna. The torches lit up well enough for her to see what I wanted to show her.

— That... It's the truth. My girlfriend... She was kidnapped two years ago and in the day before she gave me this...

— No. That's not possible! This Naomi is identical to her, but how? She was facing Monika as you said...

— Parts of the same person... I'm sorry, I didn't mean that before when you said it was resistance against Monika, I was afraid to tell that the person I'm looking for is her counterpart...

— That makes you more important than I thought, that's another reason you managed to survive...

We walked silently while Luna tried to digest the whole conversation, in the matter of revelations I think we were strictly tied. After a few minutes, I saw a cave with some people talking, so something was about to happen.

— I need a few seconds here, Luna, do you mind waiting a while?

— Will you use your vision to see if we're trustworthy people? I wouldn't be surprised if you did, after all, we barely met and I brought you here...

— No. I've done it before, I want to see another thing...

— Oh... You're quite enigmatic. Go ahead, I'll wait.

I closed my eyes and began to look at the surface, so luckily the mental blockade only worked from surface to underground and not the other way around... When I put my sight on the sky, I felt again how terrible The Night was...

— Monsters everywhere, red, black... Everything burning endlessly... The only light comes from the school...

— Where Monika hides...

— Naomi's nowhere, I can't feel her presence, but...

— But what?

— I see three figures, one on the hospital's roof, one in an apartment of Avenue 15 and the last in the park, near the point of explosion.

— Can you see their faces?

— Yes... How could I not have known before? Yuri, Natsuki, and Sayori.

This madness is worse than I thought, the other characters are also on the surface, but they do not seem to be so 'deep'.

That was the best way to define it because they seem... Flat. And their postures resembled guards, perhaps each girl was taking care of each place. The feeling of sadness of seeing them like this had destroyed me like a stab wound and made me lament how much suffering rested on their shoulders, being manipulated even out of the game.

Only servants for Monika.

— Hey! Is everything okay?

— Oh... Sorry, I lost focus. The situation is clear to me, I think I have a plan to free our city. But not now... I need more people for that, we have to unite to win this war...

— So, I think it was our fate to meet each other, our people are reading right now to the war, just waiting for someone to guide them, the Son of Compassion, they said.

We walked 'til we reached the underground, what happened was unbelievable... There were many people there doing various activities, several boys were fighting with swords, bows... While the girls were throwing... Spells on each other. Everyone was training for war.

Before I could say anything an Old-man, probably the leader of the group raised his voice drawing the attention of all the others, who stopped their activities to look at us.

— Thanks, oh... Deva of compassion... Thank you! Thank you!

— ... Excuse-me? — I said.

That Old-man knew my Master, and by his tone, he had to know who I was. I couldn't help but notice that he had a giant sword in his left hand, and his gaze was comforting.

— It is an honor to have you with us... Welcome to the resistance. Listen up, everybody:

The children, the young people, the women, and men, left from all the other caves that I could imagine just to hear him something important was going to happen…

— We waited for ages, and we're starting to losing our hope to win this war for the freedom of our people but the Deva of compassion brought her disciple to help us. Tell us your name, honorable?

— Ken...

— And what is your divine ability? What you can do to help us?

— Well, I can see what is going on up there and everything.

— Oh... A clairvoyant... That's exactly what we needed, know that's one of the most incredible gifts there is to take from an inheritance I bet you've trained for a long time to perfect it.

Now I'd understood why the Master had cleaned my eyes last before, she gave her hopes in me to destroy the Deva of Pain, after all, the Resistance was planning a real war against darkness.

Seen by their guns and robes it was almost like a union of Hogwarts and Game of Thrones, I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't surprised, first with the number of people the group had, second with their abilities.

— Hey?! Is anyone there? — He said, passing his hand over my eyes.

— I'm sorry, I was spacing out.

— Don't be frightened of us, this may all seem unreal to you, but I bet it's better than what's out there on the surface here's like a paradise.

Everyone agreed at that sentence, I felt obliged to force a smile.

As this situation was ultra strange, I almost began to wonder if I was not also in a game, those with dragons and warriors.

— Well, I need some time to absorb all this, man, this is literally surreal.

— Sure, make yourself comfortable.

I noticed that the patriarch of the group didn't even talk to Luna, he should have been worried about her too, we were away for a long time…

Like every newcomer in a group, I waved to my new friend.

— Looks like not every ghost you have ever seen in your life has prepared you for something like that, huh?

— Not at all, Luna.

That was another world, the height to the surface was enormous, an underground world was the best way to describe it, there were even several houses to lose sight of.

A terrestrial Atlantis.

I sat on a rock with a vision for that city, while Luna came to my side, almost to comfort me.

— You don't look well since you used your spiritual sight to see what's going on in the surface... It's terrible that even other characters from that game came here.

— Yeah. That's nuts... Does everyone know about the game, or just you?

— Just me. I also played, I even thought it was a coincidence when I heard the descriptions that the soldiers of the Resistance gave. I was from the surface a long time ago…

— It wasn't just a clickbait to catch surprise weeaboos. Salvato was really hiding a lot of things, I mean, an insane plan to bring back the Deva of Pain to Earth...

— He's probably someone important in the cult... And that game wasn't just a game… Our situation proves that.

— The schematic was practically perfect, they put her inside in this madness... I just wanted to know how they did it... They caused so much pain in her... Only to kept feeding that God... I'd to have saved her, it's my fault that she's passing through this!

— Stop thinking that way! It's not your fault! — She approached me and put her hand next to my shoulder.

— Sorry. I just wanted to say it, I had to face all of this alone with all the guilt...

— Well, we better not keep thinking about it. Asato was really waiting for you he never gets excited like this, it's not much of his type. And your girlfriend will be okay, I hope. I hope she isn't evil...

I stopped looking at Luna and turned my gaze to the city, the whole situation wouldn't be solved without a fight I could almost hear the war happening in my head. War was the only answer, only that…

— Yes, that's the answer...

— What's that? What's the matter? Do you always take your ideas out of nowhere like this?

— Yeah. Always...

Asato, who was listening to the conversation, approached us:

— The Deva of compassion really speaks through you, Ken... What's your idea? How can we win?

— By strategy... I will go with Luna.

— Where to? — She interrupted.

— We'll eliminate the guardians of Monika... They are transmitting information to Monika. With that monster's eyes and ears turned off, we could launch an assault at the school... After all. — I pointed up to the surface. — The school is above us, and we have an advantage if we take them by surprise. She'll think that it is just us two fighting with her...

— Makes sense... This is dangerous, but its worth a shot... — Luna answered.

— For what I saw, Corrupted is inactive by now, she was recluse on the school to gain strength and all her vision depends on the guardians. So, we will takedown her eyes while she is sleeping...

— I see. I recently received instructions directly from the Deva to start our preparations for the day that you find us, so we're willing to follow your strategies, as she said to us to do... You don't want to have some of our top-tier soldiers and mages to help you two in this mission?

I thought about it for a moment. We could attack in all directions at once, but that would alarm Corrupted, but if we take down one by one by ourselves she'll think that we're fighting alone and won't make any preparations for war. Given her personality she would be curious to see our actions, thinking that she is on control...

— No, only us two... But I want you all to prepare for the war and I'll give the signal when you all should come, is that okay?

— You all understood Ken, people? — Asato asked aloud.

— Yes! We'll free our land! — They said.

Everyone sounded to understand and they were willing to obey my instructions and plans, I even don't know from where my ideas were coming from, probably from my Master.

— So, then when you two take down the guardians, what do we do?

— We'll go to war. A war when victory is the only way, and we've to willing to give our lives to our freedom if it's necessary — I said. — Asato, organize your people in this night, you all should be prepared to go tomorrow afternoon, and me and Luna we go in this Midnight to the surface...

And then, everyone started to talk to each other, I could feel in them an energy and a will to fight they always know that day will come and they've unconditional faith in my Master.

And I thought that I don't have to question this faith. They believed in me because I'm the pupil of her.

But maybe I was doing what I was supposed to do. If only I could talk to Naomi to ask what I should do...

Because joining a war against Monika, does not mean war with Naomi.

Right?


	8. Sisters of blood

( _And the people trapped there have this trait that turns them into killing machines that lust for blood. But the facility gets even worse, and they start selectively breeding people by cutting off their limbs and affixing them to-_ ) _Yuri Act II Dialogue about Portrait of Markov._

* * *

When I stepped forward to the first floor of the hospital the sepulchral silence helped me to see visions of my past from the time I was in the game when I was an unreal cute girl.

That silence reminded me of the day of the festival, the day that I decided to not surrender to the world and write my own fate but killing everyone else as consequence, killing Sayori was the kick start of all the events that lead me to be here...

The sounds and songs of the game were related to the quality of the script, as at the time I didn't know how to control it efficiently so the absence of music in that scene was my attempt to destroy the rules of my own reality, late then I would create more and more bizarre effects to try to ask help to my player.

Apart from all this, I knew more than ever that everything I'd seen and lived in the city of Futeki was the extent of my punishment for the things I've done... Getting out of the game might not have been the best idea in the end.

 ** _I escaped from hell, but hell lives inside of me._**

The drops of blood slowly fell on the ceiling broke a little of the silence and my heart accelerates. In the effort to control it, I took a deep breath.

─ **This time, we'll switch roles**. ─ I heard that voice right behind me, which had made me turn quickly…

And for sure…

There was nothing behind.

That was Yuri or rather Libitina joking around me. Like another third eye subject, she knew almost all the things that I did to some extent, the difference between her and me is that the suppression abilities of her third eye were awful, so she had only small glimpses of the true nature of things.

"Although I liked her, she'd always been tied to the original script which leads me to conclude that she's just as a servant guarding this place for those who are really pulling the strings... But also seems like she is a half-aware angry ghost". I thought, trying to understand what's going on.

─ I'm ready to tear your body in pieces, Libitina. Since that's what you really like, isn't it? You're just another creation of Corrupted Monika and it's a puppet of hers!

─ Oh, come on. You already know everything Asaki, I am what I am and I'll prove to Salvato that I AM BETTER THAN YOU, AND I'LL DO THIS KILL!

─ I see, my dear. If it's your answer... You'll have another nice weekend when I'll encounter you!

─ So, your memory still working. ─ The voice came from all directions at the same time, rough and sharp as a knife that was definitely not Yuri anymore. ─ It's just that my idea is to watch you for now... Remember the time I told you that I love atmospheres? So, uh... Maybe you already know what's going to happen, I want to see you going crazy as you've done to me!

Suddenly, the walls changed and everything became red and I noticed some black paint markings and I could also hear a distorted sound in my mind, a cacophony, which was trying to seize my thoughts and destroy me by inside.

Random words came to my mind and the whole environment was blurry, I felt like a drunk walking on a road full of cars, the same kaleidoscopic colors from the time I was trapped in the void returned.

That mental torture paralyzed my body and I saw shadows surrounding me. I tried to focus on the fact that everything I was seeing wasn't real, but that didn't help, she was trying to make all the tampering that I did when I was the one on control.

There were images that Yuri saw in Act II.

─ That's it, that's it you did to me! For no reason but to be together with your beloved player... I'll not let you unpunished for all the insanity of Act II, I waited for a long time for this moment.

─ So what? You think that you can kill me now?

─ Stop interrupting me! The Deva of Pain gave me a power that allows me to revenge the torture that you did to me… Can you hear those noises? Can you hear the cries of your soul? Have fun!

Slapping my own face, my vision returned to normal.

Even if the environment was completely covered in blood and the noise of liquid flowing through my ear gives me uneasiness, my high guard posture hadn't changed since I'd entered the hospital, hence I could be attacked from any direction, so I waited for the next move of hers. I tried to not focus on the surroundings, but it was a terrible situation no matter the way I look.

"Take it easy... Hey... Naomi, calm down." I kept repeating that statement until I got on the stairs to the next floor.

As I walked through the door the electronic noises in my head stopped, my objective was the fourth floor where she probably was, first I'd to take the key to the underground that Libitina was protecting, so I have no choice to not enter in her game.

I climbed a few steps, exactly two pitches to get to the first floor. There, I realized it wouldn't be so easy: the ladder that connected to the rest of the floors was simply not there, as if it had been torn off.

Or deleted.

My only option was to access the first floor and go the emergency staircase on the other side of the corridor and my mind couldn't be distracted.

Because my body was human and anything could kill me. So my judgment should be perfect in any combat situation, but talking was a lot easier than doing it.

Clear thinking was complicated, not impossible.

As I opened and passed through the access door, I noticed that I was in a situation that would require calm. In front of me, there was a partially lit corridor to the east and another to the west, the problem was that in both of them there were strange beings...

In fact, they were human silhouettes... Pale with white eyes and they owned enormous knives wounds where the heart should be.

"What an imbecile metaphor." I thought.

Even so, going unnoticed would be too risky. I have to find some way to kill them all at once because I wouldn't be able to explore the rooms with those things wandering around.

Does that strategy confirm that I'm a killer that prefers to kill rather than be furtive?

─ Hey! Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?

As in one click, I was in a kind of limbo of another dimension around me there were several floating rocks, planets and stars to all sides. Clearly, I wasn't in the hospital anymore...

─ Well, that worked. ─ That voice said.

It was a completely deformed shadow that spoke to me, I could see just one red eye in the center of its body.

─ To whom do I owe the honor? ─ I said giggling. ─ My personality, which I tried to hide all this time was slowly returning.

─ You seem to have gotten into a complicated situation and your journey for your freedom seems to me to be threatened... Libitina is very powerful and I think she is even stronger than you...

─ You don't think I can handle it by myself? Who are you anyway?

The shadow approached me and I could feel its interest while I drew up a conversation strategy to that situation. It's impossible not to I felt the amount of power that shadow has.

I'd show how my skills to debate are strong...

─ Humans know me as Deva of Pain, I'm behind all the events that have happened since your imprisonment in the game and all this time I've been watching you... I'm inside your mind.

─ And what would I want with the villain of the story? ─ Pretending self-confidence was one of my best skills.

─ Power... I know you're not a religious person, so you shouldn't know about my true nature. But I am a dual-personality deity, he the other half, never agrees with me, you know? And for coincidence, we have split apart.

─ And now that you've divided that means that you're on the opposite side of the coin... Then... You're on my side? So, I think that I've now an ally to beat Corrupted Monika?

─ If I hadn't been your ally, you'll be dead. As your other half, that's in entire control of him and I also can easily do this if I want.

Clearly, he was bluffing, that time I stepped in that circle near the theater it was him trying to escape from my body and he finds out that he can't, at least not that time... Besides, he came out exactly when I'd want to have the power to kill those creatures, the most sensitive moment to lean with his proposals.

─ I'm glad to have such friendly allies... Ahahahaha~ Would be awful if you kill me, don't you think?

─ It really looks like your original personality is returning. Always confident and full of yourself, I confess that I missed this side of you. Anyway, there is only one condition, nothing more, and I'm sure that you'll consider it too kind for me to help you in your journey and in your future battles…

I knew it will have one condition, no matter what it was, I'd take it, and I wouldn't comply with... And I would try to find a way to overcome him, maybe I can defeat him before he gets tired of using me...

For now, I'd just use his powers.

─ Go ahead and say it.

─ There's a representative of the goddess of compassion in this town and none of our parts like this, it could be bad for our plans... Then, the divine force that I'll give you must be used for that purpose.

I have to do something which the two of them couldn't, that put me on the wall because I'd be against many powers. But for having the power of the Deva... It is worth it.

─ Yes. I'll help you out to kill this person, in the end... I'm just a murderer!

─ That's my girl.

─ It's funny that you both can't kill the other goddess on its own and need my help that makes me so amazing, don't you think?

─ Yeah, we can't... Because only humans can kill her, so I'll lend you all the powers of a Deva and we'll destroy the goddess and bring chaos to the world! Would you agree with that?

─ Stop messing around, we've persons to kill!

Then the shadow endowed me and I immediately felt the divine power pulsing in my veins, was equal...

 **EQUAL TO THE POWER OF CLUB PRESIDENT OF THE GAME, BUT...**

 **IN.**

 **REAL.**

 **LIFE.**

I felt the power flowing in my body and I realized that I could do anything this power inexplicable from human perspectives was mine before I had only glimpses of that strength...

I went back to the hospital and at that exact moment when I woke up, all the creatures noticed me.

I smiled at that moment, 'cause my thirst for power inherent in my personality had been fully quenched, so... There was just one more thing left to satisfy.

My lust for innocent blood.

I saw the creatures beings filled with a thirst for blood and their eyes became red and I could hear the laughter of Libitina in my ears, she was feeling triumphant thinking that I'd die there and now.

The problem was, she hasn't learned anything in all those years.

She thought that I escaped from the game by luck... No, it's because I'm fucking smart.

While those violent thoughts came to my mind and I did not really know if they were mine or of that Deva, that was my true nature in that time and nothing would change that, my freedom was the only thing that mattered... And for achieving it I'll embrace any insanity.

─ That's the end of you, Naomi! ─ Libitina said for one last time.

And that time was my moment, I felt my eyes and my face changing it was like I've my lust for blood was occupying my mind and I knew what I must to do to satisfy this hungry for killing:

 ** _─ Deva's Will: DELETE._**

That thing drained a lot of my energy, but I really needed to see what would happen and the result was bizarre: All the creatures in my front simply ceased to exist, without even the slightest trace left, killing them in that way was an incredible sensation.

That's what I was.

A monster.

I still didn't have much control over that new energy, so I couldn't use that realistic distortion as often as I'd like to and that spell consumes a lot of my power giving the fact that I felt weak after using that...

─ It looks like you are back to your true nature... I don't know how you got that strength out of nowhere... I'll wait for you on the roof of the hospital. Of course... I doubt I'll make it here alive... But if you bypass all of that madness in those floors your reward will be the privilege to see what real power is!

Libitina was reaffirming her strength so it was absolutely obvious that I frightened her using the power of Deva.

After all, who wouldn't fear that power of mine although I felt that I'd spent a lot of energy deleting those creatures so I have to wait a long time to use anything divine... Even so, her strategy of turning me back to who I was definitely was a shot to the foot because I'm worse than any monster by now.

I think nobody would like to see an "Act II Insane Monika", Am I right?

I felt the disdain and indifference flow through my veins. "They all aren't real, so I don't need to hold back on simply destroying their existence, I don't have to show any pity for Libitina or Corrupted or anyone else!" I thought to myself, taking back my old personality.

I preferred to stay quiet after those provocations of Libitina, and I felt safer 'cause my eyes were so fast that I was sure I could defend myself when she came and to show that disdain for her presence I just started exploring the hallway rooms.

There were five rooms to the left and three others to the right.

The doors were blocked by yellow ribbons, such as those that the police use.

Wandering around I decided to cut the blockade of room 100 and enter. In that room, there was a dark liquid bubbling on the floor and its origin was a desk full of scattered medical records as if someone had been looking for something just before I entered and I also couldn't help noticing the two paintings, respectively, at the bottom of the room above the desk and the other above a closet.

The first image was of an eye identical to Corrupted's, with a red eyeball and dark iris, below of that painting was the title:

 **"The divine vision."**

In the painting near the closet, there was a blurred image of a familiar landscape that was very difficult to recognize, I wondered if it was my vision that was deteriorating or the painting was blurred in some way its frame was carved in gold contrasting with the rest of the environment.

Turning my attention to the desk convinced me that Libitina would no longer appear, she may preparing herself for the battle on the roof, so I let my guard down and went to look for something in those records, records, records and more records of patients who have already been trapped for human experiments in the past, one, in particular, caught my attention a shattered paper of the date of 2017, the year when I'm kidnapped...

Unfortunately, I could not read anything but the names of the subjects, and that was enough because what I saw made everything clear in my mind... Like a lot of memories returned to my mind:

 **"Naomi Asaki (Monika)**

 **Elyssa Libitina (Yuri)**

 **Alessa Yin (Sayori)**

 **Cheryl Asuma (Natsuki)"**

I already knew that the other girls in the game were real people, but seeing their names gave a shock to my mind. I couldn't help but wonder where the others were, it was nonsensical that they could escape from the game, only I can, I know that... So, Libitina was just a memory from my past that the Red World created for me?

Shit, I can't figure this out.

But even that assumption raises more questions than answers: "Where that prison was located? Should I help them? They could be helped in any sort?" I put all my thoughts in check, one of these girls was attacking me for revenge but it is completely plausible that she was being controlled by Corrupted like a puppet.

─ You shouldn't show pity for them.

─ What? Can you talk to me? ─ I asked to the presence of the Deva.

─ Of course, I'm in your body after all... I think you're starting to get your mind blurred. Your freedom depends on two things: to help me eliminate the representative of the Goddess of compassion and to eliminate the three puppets of my other half.

─ And why does it have to be me? ─ I reluctantly tried to find out his motives. ─ Devas seem to be increasingly dependent on humans, don't they? I understand that I should kill the goddess, but the girls… Why?

─ Because I can't fully manifest myself without your intervention. Unlike my other part... And stop messing with me!

─ You seem offended, huh? Ahahahaha~ You shouldn't have shown such weakness like that.

I heard muffled laughter, a bit that the great divine entity didn't want to show that it'd surrendered to my sick sense of humor, so he resumed:

─ Anyway, the girls are at Markov Lab headquarters, at least their bodies... The souls are haunting this place seeking revenge of you, they weren't the girls that you met anymore, they were "Corrupted" by the nightmare too. I suspect that Salvato wants to help Corrupted too, but I couldn't figure out his plan yet...

─ So, uh... Salvato's on the outside in that lab, isn't he?

─ Yeah. He's in the real world, in possession of your friends' bodies and...

─ Don't you dare... To call them "my friends".

My interruption left him silent, maybe I exaggerated a little bit, however, calling those puppets of "my friends" was an offense all I wanted was to get back to reality and kill Salvato once for all, he was my focus, puppets were just mere obstacles.

Even Corrupted was useless to me and she was just another obstacle, my real revenge would only be completed when I kill him with my own hands…

─ Wow. Playing with danger, right?

─ I need you to free me, and you need me to eliminate the son of the Goddess, then we are tied. Just explain something to me why the hell was I trapped in this place, what are you guys up to leaving me here?

I felt that he was pondering his words, I had a good idea already, but I wanted to hear from him, obviously, he needed my trust which put him against the wall:

─ Well... Dan is trying to awaken the third eye on him since decades ago, but he never succeeded. Then he detected four very promising guinea pigs and threw their souls into a two-dimensional simulation. Although Elyssa had the most active eye, she didn't know how to do the suppression correctly...

─ Figures, only I could suppress it.

─ And after the game, they were taking your body to the extraction camp... Before that, you escaped from their hands but your traumas didn't abandon you. And so this hell had been created by your mind, no one is really holding you here. Yeah, hell's with you... No matter what place you go.

─ I see... Fucking Salvato... Fucking deities.

─ Hey! That offended me, I told the whole story and that's my retribution? Didn't your parents give you an education? Jesus! I'm helping you out to get your freedom madam!

I didn't want to hear any more explanations, even though I asked for them in the first place.

With that new information, I redefined my goals: Freedom was only the first part, I'd also make that damn scientist choke on his own blood! And nothing would stand in my way.

No gods, no people, no illusions.

My vision changed as if I had put a negative color filter in my eyes.

I walked into the next room and the tapes blocked the entrance there too, but that was literally nothing to me I destroyed the blockade with a punch

In that room there was a pale figure, moving erratically, she was facing me in possession of very sharp claws.

Its footsteps were slow, so I just went ahead and stuck the knife in its head.

That creature was dumb as a zombie.

When I stabbed it, the creature immediately disappeared and at that moment I felt the divine energy returning to my body it was obvious what had happened...

I had to kill to recharge my powers.

Analyzing the rest of the room I saw that it was a meeting room with an enormous oval table and the same pictures as before, but blood was flowing inside the images, in the center of the table there was a yellow paper left there for me to read:

 _"Dear Miss Asaki,_

 _I see that you are having fun in the world between reality and unreality, who would have predicted that even though you ran away from our laboratory you did exactly what we wanted?_

 _We're watching all your steps, but we can't get into your thoughts, unfortunately._

 _Yet._

 _So, I want to challenge you if you really want to see and face me to take your revenge you've to prove that you're worth a fight... If you kill Libitina in less than five minutes, I'll give you the location of an item that serves essentially to_ ** _dG8gc2VhbA==_** _annoying things you know?_

 _I'm looking forward to your results, Moni─, I mean. Naomi Asaki,_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Mr. Salvato"_

"Got it." The game of lies in which I was involved was much more complex than it seemed, the word marked in bold was coded in Base64, that I finally could understand since Yuri started to tampering me and at the same time that language the Deva of Pain couldn't understand because he saw for himself and couldn't enter into my thoughts.

Moreover, it is worth mentioning that Devas may indeed be superior creatures but they have no omnipresence, omnipotence, or anything of the kind. Blinded by pride, they are still within Samsara at least as far that Ken said to me...

Dan wanted me to... Yes, exactly... He had his own interests in that story, like all the other monsters.

I left the letter on the table pretending that it didn't impact me, dispersing the attention of the creature that was in my body. The problem was, I didn't know the entire figure of that whole story everything was so confusing.

Leaving that aside, I left that room and headed for the others, there were no more doors with those tapes blocking the passage just solid concrete walls; I assumed there would be nothing important so I moved to the only door that was possible to open.

As I passed through I realized that the door gives access to the stairs of the Hospital and fortunately they were not broken. So, I went up to the fourth floor, because the other two floors didn't interest me, the objective of getting the key had not been erased from my mind but it wasn't my priority at the moment. On the way up, I could hear the static noise in my mind, while the ladder steps became more and more rusty and repulsive.

The access door to the fourth floor was full of blood too that were clearly not inviting me and even with the powers I acquired, I couldn't leave the feeling of anxiety, therefore I felt that my powers were discharged which put me in a position of vulnerability.

Passing through a long corridor proved to me to be much longer than it should be disrespecting any law of physics 'cause it was much longer than the size of the building itself.

Maybe it was an optical illusion.

In the walls were pulsating crimson veins, making a horrendous noise of passage of liquids, it was like being inside a living being.

I heard whispers mixed with laughter, my ears couldn't pinpoint the location of those noises.

There was a map on the blackboard beside me, although it was almost all covered in blood, I could figure some things; in that hallway, there were sixteen rooms, and a psychiatric ward at the end of it, there were patient containment materials and a "Specific Testing Room", where I saw a marking in black ink:

"Key to the Resistance."

And after this room, I could also access a direct staircase to the hospital's roof.

I heard a click in my mind, as if a bolt of lightning had fallen by my side then I lost my sense of direction for a few moments and I no longer saw the corridor in front of me.

As I lifted my eyes I saw that something had changed, several arms came out of the walls looking for something to grab while desperate screams came from inside the rooms.

Reminders ripped my mind, "I've been here before."

─ Sure has been. ─ A child appeared exactly on my side, speaking calmly words ignoring the whole environment like she was not affected by that at all.

That child was me, a little shorter with a younger face from before the time I was kidnapped, without wanting to question her presence because nothing fucking made sense in this story, I answered:

─ How did I got through this and not remember anything?

─ Nobody deserves to remember it, but they're digging in your head so you can relive these things... ─ She was making gestures from someone digging something up while she was talking.

Her eyes were still innocent, I could see that image represented me in the first days of prison or even before I was trapped.

I miss so much when my life was normal, unfortunately, I couldn't have completely clear images of those times, because I had many memories inserted in me during these two years, an entire whole life inserted within my head... Fake parents, fake friends...

Not knowing what to do, I humiliated myself to a point that I didn't even know it was possible:

─ Do you think everything I've done is justifiable?

─ Hmmm... I don't know, Ahahaha. I mean I don't think there's a right way, just different ways neither right nor wrong. I only think that you should be concerned about the present and what's in front of you, which isn't beautiful, of course, but is what you have. We have…

─ Nothing is ever beautiful. If realities are hell, artificial realities are even worse... All I wanted was to get rid of this nightmare and go home with my family and the person I love. But this is just impossible right now and my only possible goal is to seek revenge...

─ But he's in this world, the problem is you two are on opposite sides of this story, but you all are still in the same boat... Can't you stop looking at "yourself" all the time? ─ She laughed while I was starting her, searching for something in her eyes. For some little hope...

─ Just tell me what am I supposed to do? I'm lost, scared and desperate for an answer, a way out of this nightmare! Ken hates me by now, Corrupted is the one who killed Akemi, and she is willing to destroy all worlds!

─ I didn't think when I grew up I would be so stupid... It was like I said, there are only different paths, no matter which one you take as long as you get to your destination, am I right?

─ Miss... I can't understand. ─ I said, frustrated to receive enigmatic lines from my own younger copy, or did I get dumber with the time that I couldn't understand her?

─ Do whatever you want...

─ Holy shit! ─ I screamed. ─ It's okay people being enigmatic to me because no one must help. But my own image is denying help? That must be a joke.

─ Calm down lady Asaki. ─ She stopped her teasing. ─ I was just trying to see if I still the same. Anyway…

─ Yeah, anyway…

─ Stop interrupting me. Okay… You have to follow this tortuous path to achieve our freedom, and happiness that you want is statistically impossible to achieve.

─ I see. I have to fight using dirty ways because is the only path possible, and there's no happiness to be found. Am I right?

─ Yep!

─ You really came here to help me, huh. ─ I sighed.

─ Sorry Miss Asaki, but there is nothing like perfect endings. And we have four possible outcomes for this story just depends on what will do for now on to finding the ending that you want/deserve... And it also depends on how much power do you will have when you face Corrupted.

─ I see. I need more power if I want to be free... Makes sense now...

Then she disappeared, that was just a memory that my mind had projected for who the hell know why... However, talking to her helped me, but the screams and voices didn't cease and seem like never would.

The tortures would never end, I'd never have a perfect ending and this world is a place where happiness can't be found.

That words reverberated in my mind as I tried to find a way to cross the hallway I decided to run and some hands managed to scratch me in the face, but I passed with no problem.

I passed into the next hallway, which was much quieter although I still could hear the muffled cries behind the door from which I had come; there was only one door, that leads to the Specifics Testing Room.

Slowly I approached the room and the sepulchral silence activated my anxiety, my powers were still dormant, so I wouldn't have much to defend myself from what was behind that room yet there was no choice or space to step back.

I turned the knob and passed to the room, at that moment a big flash came on my face, so brighter that I closed my eyes...

I no longer felt my body or my presence and after some seconds and the room turned completely dark, with no signal of light. The silence lasted a few seconds until I heard my own voice, but I couldn't see from where:

─ "Shit, shit. I HATE THIS! No matter how many cycles I go through, no matter how hard I fight, or how hard I pull the knots from this game, or what messages I send to the player, he can't help me, nothing FUCKING WORKS... Everything ends the same way, no matter if I reprogram everything, literally

EVERY.

LINE.

OF.

CODE...

No matter if I try to hide my nature or change the traits of the other girls, we're forever bound to the same fate. Those damn inevitability... Well, I guess I'll have to do that for the umpteenth time.

it really doesn't matter if doesn't work, I just can't be still and do nothing about it!

In fact, it will be a lot easier if she just kills herself... Ahahaha~

Cross your fingers... Here goes nothing."

Those words were real knives thrown into my heart, at the time I managed to recover the memory of when I had said that at some time among the millions of cycles I spent trying to save myself and escape from that hell. Even if I went into the real world, I wouldn't be able to save myself from my dark past.

Maybe happy endings don't exist, but is there at least one end?

I had to discover it.

Feeling that spark of determination, I wiped the tears of anger and despair from my eyes, the lights returned in its normal state.

It was an operating room, the oval bed in the center gave me chills in my spine and there were several plugs scattered on the floor next to an old machine that accompanied heartbeats, some electrodes also scattered among a puddle formed by the raindrops of blood from the terrace.

My body suffered from the psychological pain of reliving those memories, at the same time that I wanted to do everything differently and to escape, and I was being punished with all my memories, remembering all my attempts to make the game a place at least...

A little better.

─ Hey. don't give up. You've never been this close, Naomi... I said before: find your way, it doesn't need to be the right one, the happy one it just needs to free you...

The child had once again appeared on my side, this time holding my right hand it gave me a sense of instant peace:

─ No one can erase its own past, but the pen to write the book of your life is in your hands. While you're alive, your future can be changed.

─ And what's the point of freeing me if no one's accompanying me there? This whole journey is useless! ─ I struggled, feeling immersed in hopelessness.

─ No… Don't say that. You've survived all your gray days, where's that girl full of strength I've seen all these years and your infinite determination?! Even if you escape alone, you'll be free, and that's what matters at the end of the day.

I realized that Yuri/Libitina was trying to destroy my mind from inside, showing all those memories to drain my strength. But the hope engraved in the eyes of the old Naomi, of the old me, brought me back to reality, making my power flow again.

─ Actually... Even if the world takes my soul away from me I will never give up, what has been done in the past is not of the matter anymore, that's my Realization.

─ Now go. Destroy your traumas by force! ─ She said and then disappeared, I didn't know if I'd see her again, but it didn't matter.

I left that room and took the key that was in the center of the bed and I kept it with me.

I made my way to the roof of the hospital. As I climbed the stairs, I felt an inexplicable calm, At that time I felt that I'd be able to reach my freedom and crush my traumas. And maybe I would be able to, who knows, start a new life from scratch...

On the terrace I could contemplate the vision of the hell roaring around me, illuminated by the beam of light that came from the school, my emotions were a real mess from euphoria to the deep sadness.

Of course, they were emotions aroused by triggers created by Libitina, but I was happy to have managed to escape from that mental torture and make it to the roof, so I challenged her:

─ I got through everything... Your manipulation wasn't enough to knock me down, now come on, let's settle this... The mental battle is over, now you have to fight me face-to-face.

My eyes could see almost everything in the city, my mind was clear again, I was saved by the very memory of me when I was just an innocent girl.

That said, I felt Libitina approaching me at an absurd speed to human patterns to anyone looking from afar, it was like she teleport there.

"It's time to stop being afraid of this hell." I thought.

─ Iniquitous Power: Knife of Death. ─ She said appearing next to me, from my left.

I turned, pulling out my knife, just as she tried to hit me.

I could feel her frustration that her attack had no effect, the shock wave caused by the clash of the knives, however, almost took away my hearing.

Those purple iris eyes, with veins jumping on the eyeball almost bursting made me have an idea of her hatred. She was completely real to me, her purple hair was shaking with the gust of wind.

After that, she vanished and appeared in my back trying to attack me again I knew that situation was not a game so any wound of that knife would kill me instantly.

She rushed to me, her malicious eyes were aiming to my heart.

We tried to hit each other making shock waves in the process, destroying everything around us. I turn my body and tried to hit her in the face moving me to the right, that movement seemed to be unexpected to her, but then…

She vanished and appeared 20 meters away.

"Hell of an ability she has".

Seconds of silence came, I had clearly ruined her plan by that expression of hatred 'cause she set up everything that I could reach to the terrace but broken emotionally so I would not have the attitude to react in time when she attacks, that's was her plan.

I could read her like a book at that point.

─ It looks like I managed to survive your ridiculous manipulation and your surprise-attack. Ahahahaha. Now, what are you going to do? You know that I'll kill you in the next move. So, come Libitina!

Without saying anything, she threw the knife towards me with all her strength, I easily strayed away, however, she reappeared on my side holding the knife it was instantaneous.

"She could even teleport herself to objects, this is gonna be difficult!" I thought.

I couldn't defend myself from that, it was so fucking fast that I couldn't block her in time due to her movements in that insane speed, so...

 **─ Deva's Will: Almighty Scream!**

The same light on the occasion of the Theater shone around me and I felt a great wave of shock from all directions, much weaker than that time but was enough to push Libitina to the opposite side of the terrace, I could no longer make mistakes miscalculating her incredible speed and ability to teleport over short distances, hence I can't spam it...

She stood up from the ground of the roof, visibly wounded.

─ Damn... You bastard! ─ She said looking at her blood falling on the ground from her mouth. ─ I'll not lose to you again, our fight ends now!

I took advantage of her distraction to reach her, I could also do it at very high speed, and she noticed at the last second and managed to block my attack.

We're forcing our weapons against each other.

─ I'll show you, fucking Monika, that I'm far superior to you.

She appeared and reappeared in various directions, trying to counter-attack me and disperse my attention at the same time, I could barely see where she was going.

I stayed on the defensive; I didn't know what I have to do, taking advantage of my defensive posture, she said:

─ Iniquitous Power: Titan's Fire!

She throws me a fireball from her hand, at point-blank range. I wouldn't be able to use any divine ability at that moment, it was my end.

But then, I saw the image of younger Naomi standing in front of me and blocking the fire, for anyone watching that event from afar would look like the fire just vanished in the air.

Without time to think about what happened, I ran away next to the corner of the roof.

─ What? How this didn't hit you? Shit! ─ She screamed aloud.

─ I guess my guardian angel is pretty active nowadays, huh? ─ I said, ironically.

"Thanks, other Naomi". I thought.

(Thank me later, she still alive, keep fighting!). My younger version said.

The Deva of pain was in silence in my mind, he didn't say anything since we closed our deal probably he was just watching me, judging my combat skills. I searched within my mind for other divine powers, finally, something came through my mind.

 **─ Deva's will: Lust for blood.**

I felt new energy flowing within me, it was sure that I need hurt Libitina to recharge my other abilities I need her blood! Realizing that I waved to her aiming my knife in her heart.

She blocked my attack, I stepped back and tried to hit her once more, every move was faster, I was becoming faster and faster every time I hit her.

Every second without her blood in my blade makes me stronger, and hungrier!

Finally, I stabbed her arm, making it bleed a lot. Seeing my success I took distance again from that girl. It was a deep and serious enough wound to say that the battle was over.

Laughing off her pain, I said:

─ Finally, some fresh blood. ─ I licked her blood in my knife, it was delicious and kind of tasty too. A kind of thing that makes me feel excited.

My lust for blood was stronger at that moment than ever.

─ … You're a monster, I'll not die here. Fucking bitch!

─ You talk a lot for one for someone so full of yourself, don't you think?

─ That's enough! You'll pay for that! ─ She healed herself from that wound with some dark power and prepared to come to me for the last time.

But I thought that it was useless to wait for her to attack if I could be faster... Then...

─ Iniquitous Po-

─ Too late, poor Yuri. ─ I said just dashing there.

And before she could finish, I hit her in her chest, but just grazed it. Since she was fast enough to step back and teleport away.

─ Damn… Not again. ─ She realized her chest was wounded and healed herself again with that power. ─ Iniquitous Power: Death Sentence!

She vanished in the air again, I stayed focused for all directions, her attack would be the last and my time was running out. Then, she started to run around me, searching for a direction and angle to attack.

My eyes were also becoming less and less able to follow Libitina's movements, the question was to see who would tire first from that battle, and I felt that I gained another charge to use some divine power but the blood that I drank was not enough to use **Deva's Will: Delete** to finish her efficiently.

Then, when she attacked in another direction and before our knives collision, I turned the knife in 45 degrees and struck her on the left wrist, piercing her veins and crossing her bone.

Immediately, she disappeared and reappeared away from me, she was doing everything she could to contain the gigantic hemorrhage that soon made a pool of blood around her.

She screamed with pain, like a wild animal.

─ More blood to drink! ─ I said, licking the blood on my knife.

─ You ever act this way, thinking that you're better than me, superior, more intelligent and strong... But, this time I'll prevail!

Yuri passed the blood in her forehead and chanted the spell to wake up the third eye, I couldn't stop her 'cause my strength was fading.

Then, the third eye emerged from her forehead, and I knew that she couldn't suppress it, so I will fight against a real demon from now on.

─ GET READY!

She appeared right in front of me, and I couldn't react in time, she hit me in my right shoulder, and when I was about to defend she landed me another right on my other shoulder. I jumped to another side of the roof, but she didn't even give me time.

She appeared from above and tried to kick me but I rolled over the floor avoiding the damage.

Adrenaline blocked my pain and would do it for some minutes, but I saw blood dripping on the roof.

"Dammit it, If I didn't find a way to destroy her third eye, I wouldn't see the end of this day".

─ What happened, Naomi? Tired already? I bet you can't heal from these wounds, I pierced the main veins of this area... I'm amused that you can move...

─ I... I... Would never fall in your knees. **Deva's will: The Gate of life and death!**

From the roof emerged six dead people from the corridors of the hospital, they were like my puppets. So would be a seven vs one fight, I dashed all of the zombies in Libitina's direction and she struggled to stray from the attacks. In fact, they were energized with the dark energy, so it wouldn't be easy for her to take all of them down quickly.

In the meantime, I created a plan to destroy her third eye hence she can't close it whatsoever. I launched the first zombie towards her, she easily dodges it and stuck her knife in its head like it was a doll. But she gave an opening for a seven zombie that I hid under the roof, lacerating her face.

The cut was in her face and she screamed at its pain, but the adrenaline won't let her notice the real extent of that wound.

Mainly because...

─ I won this Libitina.

─ What you're talking about?

I dismissed the zombies in the dust as I laughed and pointed my knife to her face.

─ This bruise is spreading a paralysis venom inside your blood circulatory system, it's simple as that. You've lost it...

─ Damnit! I can't move...

So I walked towards her, I already knew I had won and I knew that she would die a few moments. That venom spreading was impossible to fix, even to her dark energy. The problem was that I'd only thirty seconds left to kill her, the lust for that blood filled me with life again, and I'd use one more divine power to speed up the process.

─ Please, don't kill me! I'm begging you!

─ What? ─ I asked, surprised.

─ I… I… Just want to be free from this endless nightmare; she said that if I kill you, I'd be free. And, in fact, I hated you too. But…

─ So, she not controls you…

─ Of course not! I just… Please, I just want to be free. If you were my friend, save me… Please. I'm so sorry…

For a moment I was in doubt if I should spare her or not. That attitude was completely unexpected and she was just like me, I saw the old Yuri in her eyes. I'd say that I really wanted to spare her, but my time was almost over, So...

─ Sorry, dear. But only one of us can be free.

Then when I got close enough to her, already kneeling in front of me, I sentenced:

 **─ Deva's Will: One-Hundred Knives.**

Several knives surged from my hand and pierced Libitina's whole body, killing her once and for all and disfiguring her whole body in the process.

There I was sure I'd have one less problem, one less demon to deal with.

However, I couldn't help but look at his disfigured body and ponder if I'd not exaggerated to the poor girl.

(Calling her "poor girl" is the real exaggeration here, dear). Younger Naomi said.

─ Yeah… Maybe you're right... Wait, what's this?

Another letter from Mr. Salvato appeared beside her body, congratulating me on having managed to kill her in time. According to him, my next destination would be the church, where I should find the sacred object known as Kisthin, and with this, I could achieve my freedom.

And dominating the Deva of pain.

─ Looks like you really did in time... You eliminated one of the shadows of your past, unfortunately, there are still two guardians left, but every journey has its first step! ─ She smiled at me.

─ I'm not proud of this path, I'm not the monster I seem to be since I got to the hospital, and she was extracting someone from me that I don't want to be anymore...

─ As I told you, this is the path you have chosen, it' not even a bit noble but it's your only option. ─ She said before disappearing again, immersed in the infernal landscape around us.

I wondered if I hadn't only created that figure from the past to console and convince myself that I wasn't a deplorable person. But that was my way, after all. A dark path, which might lead me to something better, or to a painful death, who knows?

So I walked downstairs from the hospital to the ground floor and left the building with the key to the resistance with me, but I wanted to go to the church first, I had a sensation that I need to get the full power of the god that lies on me if I want to face Corrupted Monika.

"I yet still weak, I almost died from that battle"; I thought, going to the avenue and looking to my bruises on my shoulders, it was hurting like hell... But I will survive.


	9. Bonds of War - Part 1

**Ken's POV.**

But it wasn't my master's story, it was mine. So, I waved to Luna and Asato confirming what I had said. After we talked better I and Luna went to tell to all the inhabitants, I wasn't extremely interested in the preparations, nor in the shelter.

My focus was simple, I'd to find some way to go in that park and kill those guardians, I tried to use my eyes to look for the current state of they to think about better tactics and etcetera, and when I "looked" to the surface I had a shocking surprise. On the roof of the hospital of Futeki, I saw Naomi fighting with someone.

"Maybe she had the same goals as us?" I thought, full of hope.

I was about to mentally ask to her if she didn't mean any of the things of the Theater, but that wasn't possible because something blocked me from getting any closer, so I could only observe it from afar it was like a mental barrier, work of Corrupted of course...

If I really wanted to put an end to that hell, I should learn to fight and to think in a way to save her, I knew that I can.

So, I saw that Naomi heavily injured one of the guardians, Yuri, in the case.

And I heard Naomi saying:

" ** _Deva's will: One hundred knives!"_**

And then I lost my focus with my Master calling me:

— Ken...

— Yes? — I was again in the other dimension facing her.

— As you saw, Naomi managed to defeat a guardian, the problem was the methods she used to achieve this especially the power that she has now.

— What do you mean? — My concern grew when I saw that she was showing a gloomy face, more than I'd ever seen before.

— She has allied herself with the Deva of Pain in pursue of power, this places her as your mortal enemy and the next time you see each other… I'm afraid it will be on the battlefield in which the only one of you will come out alive...

— That… No… It can't be, this has to be a mistake!

— All The Deva's Pain wants the most is to end my presence that is currently holding the strings of this world, preventing this hell from leaking into the real world and The Night from invading every corner of the Earth, besides he wants to be complete again, uniting Corrupted and Naomi in one being.

— That's not possible! How would she ally herself with someone like him?! That can't be true!

— I'm afraid so... Also, Naomi would've no other choice, since she has half that being in her body if she didn't ally with him, she would die in seconds. Naomi is trapped in that deal, whatever it is.

— So, you expect me to stand up to her? Is she forced to be on the same side of that monster? This can be happening!

— Ken, listen. There's no time for so many explanations.

The Divine being took her gigantic blade and stretched it towards me, offering it I could feel that this wasn't her desire, but that circumstances led her to it. I still couldn't believe that I would be forced to fight against the person I loved most in life, so I didn't know if I'd feel betrayed or sorry for Asaki.

A person who has suffered so much throughout her life, being tortured in every single way and despite all that, carrying a monster in her body... I wanted to be able to help her, however, as always I could do nothing.

When I held that blade in my hands... Memories of me and my dear invaded my mind, together, it was like it happened ages ago suddenly I felt a grip on my shoulder it was Luna bringing me back to reality.

— Hey! Are you okay? — She asked so worriedly about me like she really cares...

— Yes, I think so. I got a gift from the goddess it's her blade. — I said, trying to disguise the shock of the revelation about Naomi.

— Oh, my... That's the compassion blade. — Asato, that was close to me, looked to it in complete disbelief seeing such a divine object in front of him. — So then, we're prepared for the fight...

— Yes, I think so. But, changing subjects, let me ask something that I'm wondering… How do you count the time here? — I asked since the underground city had no natural source of light just artificial ones.

— There are more unanswered questions than things between heaven and earth, my son. — Asato said, still smiling.

— I see.

Look how strange it was, I'd a new army that would obey me only because I was chosen by my Master to fight against Naomi and the being that was living inside her body.

Thinking that she was forced to be in the side of the villain, but something in my mind was saying that Naomi wouldn't surrender to something like that, in some way she would overcome it or even maybe control the powers of the Devil.

She was THE strongest girl ever.

Leaving these thoughts away, I said:

— ... Can I talk to Luna in private?

— Sure, go ahead, sir. — Asato turned his back and left.

I walked along with my new friend to where gave vision to the hidden city, illuminated by artificial lights it was completely stunning, I couldn't believe that place is even physically possible to exist. She seemed to be worried about me because of the crazy things that I said.

Like, declaring a war!

— Looks like finding you was the best thing that ever happened to The Resistance, huh? — She was trying to break the ice.

— Well... I don't know much. I can be the doom of this world, leaving everyone to certain death, I'm just doing what my Master said to.

— Yes, I knew... Because for someone who is just made a declaration of war, you don't seem to be very confident at all.

— I'm not confident anymore because the fight is not just against Corrupted and the Deva of Pain... It's against Naomi too.

— What? Don't tell me... — She got pale, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looks when she is worried.

"Stop thinking about that Ken!" I thought irritated with myself.

— Yes, these two are allies now, forced allies I might say. Because she was forced to do it... And the next time I meet her will be to fight to the death, and only one will stand alive. She has half of the Deva of Pain and is our enemy like Corrupted…

Saying those words ripped my throat, it was the kind of thing that thinking is bad and talking is even worse; the girl could see in my eyes that there was still some kind of love, the desire that everything was just a nightmare that I'd wake up next to Asaki, saying:

"Morning! My darling."

But dreams are only dreams. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And I'd to accept reality and be strong, even if I end up with myself after 'saving' the world.

— Oh... I'm sorry, Ken. It must be hard for you.

— Yes, it's. — I gave a cold answer and looked away.

A strange silence continued in the next few moments, Luna seemed to be thinking about how to cheer me up without destroying the rest of my feelings; I couldn't help but notice how quickly she started to worry about me. Maybe it was the fact that I was the representative of the Deva that everyone there worshipped, or she was trying to use me to replace the person that she was looking for when we met.

One way or another, she said:

— We've no choice, all worlds, realities of all universes need us now. Your world and my world need us... We're in a war, and we didn't have time to cry about the sadness of life, it's not about only us anymore, you know?

— I, uh... You're right, harsh, but right.

— Sorry for being harsh, but I don't really know how to cheer up people...

— She lamented, crossing her arms. — Well, where we'll start?

— It's not a problem. The first place that we're going to Futeki amusement park, there is one of the guardians of Corrupted Monika the girl with the pink hair, or in other words: The ghost of Natsuki.

— Natsuki... I understand. So, you know something about her? About her abilities?

— She summons creatures of her imagination to fight in her place, I believe this is her only skill. I fought one of these creatures next to the theater… Well, enough talking we need to go and...

— No way. — Luna stood up and pointed north, where there was a kind of garden. — We need to train first, after all, you don't know how to use this sword and I bet you don't have even have serious combat experience, right?

She read me like a book, I was just a common student before all that madness, unlike her, who acted like a warrior and looked like was a woman prepared to war since she was just a child; without choices, I answered her, but with another question:

— And you know how to fight?

— Of course. You still don't understand that we have been preparing for war since ever? I guess you're not so lucky to have to be trained by me, huh?

— Show me the way then.

Luna walked with me towards the valley, which was even more incredible from that point of view. As we walked into the garden, I think that this girl was wonderful, especially for her warlike way of being. Maybe it was time to bury my past and accept things as they presented themselves to me.

No! This would be cheating and she isn't even interested in me!

I had to focus on the facts, now Naomi was an enemy so was Corrupted. Both being part of Deva who wants my head, and the winner would decide who will win the war…

My thoughts continued even when Luna nodded, saying:

— Stay there, I'll get my stuff.

— Understood, Madame Warrior.

— I want to see what nickname you'll call me at the end of this... — Luna didn't return my joke, she was much more serious than the opportunity we first met.

When she left I looked to my blade, it wasn't very heavy, I could feel the energy flowing into my body I'd never used a weapon like that in my life, however, some mysterious knowledge had invaded my soul in that space of time the mystery didn't last long and my Teacher said inside my mind:

— I'll make suggestions in the course of the battles, just follow your intuition that things will flow naturally... And no give mercy for anybody!

I didn't know if she was worried about my life or just wanted to turn her back on herself. Anyway, I was his most dear disciple and then Leaving that aside Luna resurfaced from her house with a sword and armor, as well a gold bow on her back, even more, beautiful than the past.

— In war, you need to fight in short, medium, and long-range. Apparently, you don't have anything to do that aren't close attacks, so you're already at disadvantage, SO your mission is to get into my short-range in the first place. You think you can do it?

— Got it.

I went to one corner of the low grass garden and she was on the other side. It happened in the twinkling of an eye, she took her bow and shot an arrow that passed close by my neck, luckily I turned away from it.

I screamed by reflex for that sudden attack:

— What the fuck was that?! — I called Luna, and she ignored me and said…

— Initial Fire's path: Arrow of Doom.

A giant arrow made of pure dark and fire energy appeared in front of me and that would surely burn me alive, seeing an arrow of that size, between five meters of length I realized that Luna really wasn't joking around, so following my intuition I said:

— Compassion first movement: Divine Defense.

The explosion of the arrow came, but a green energy field like a bubble protected me, and in the following three more arrows came at once when my shield collapsed forcing me to run to the other side, unable to get near her yet.

That girl's eyes carried real hatred and a lot of hurt and resentment, she was more sensitive in that way than usual.

It was like I could easily read people's emotions like never. I could even see similarities between that girl and Naomi, the dark fire energy that was around her was the greatest proof of that.

Trying to get closer, I took a step towards her promptly reciprocated with another blow now using her right hand and arrows faster and bigger than the others. Then, she screamed:

— Second Stage of Dark's path: Dream of Chaos.

An aura of black fire spread around the girl, that seemed to be a defensive measure because that was the fire of the third kingdom and…

— Yes, exactly. — Said the girl, like she read my thoughts. — The fire that never ceases, I learned that from my books which gave me the necessary wisdom to reach this power. But, no it's not just something defensive...

Then she shot seven black arrows of dark fire to me and my intuition told me that I couldn't defend myself from it, the best action was to try to deviate from everything hence touching those things was clearly fatal.

That was not a test, it was a real battle.

Every ten steps around the girl I'd go one step ahead, slowly approaching her, the problem was when she realized it when I'm getting closer, I was isolated from going away of the circle of flames because the arrows weren't to hit me and yes to create a circle impossible to escape.

— There's no turning back, Ken. I suggest you be more incisive if you don't want to die right here because the smoke that these flames produce is poisonous in a way that you've only more five minutes to defeat me before certain death!

Luna was really determined to prove myself to the limit, I couldn't see anything of that gentle girl that I met, she was like a beast hungry for prey.

— Ken. You know what to do. — My Master appeared behind me, only I could see her at that moment. — The second movement of God will create a shock wave strong enough to disperse the fire and overcome it, just aim at her direction, and let her be burned by her own power.

— I refuse to kill her, she is my friend now, she didn't mean any of it, it's just a test. — I said strongly, but inside I was in extreme doubt.

— That's a lot bigger than you, kid, if you can't handle it and do what you must... I'll.

— But, uh...

The boy had been possessed by his teacher who was no longer as kind as before, something had changed in her own kindly nature. As the Deva of Compassion was afraid that Ken could fail in his mission, leaving the whole Earth to the chaos.

Now, under control of his body, the goddess uttered with a distorted voice determined to eliminate anyone who tries to mess with her objective, in a war, even the Goddess of compassion doesn't show pity for anyone.

— Compassion Second Movement: Right Hand, God's Fist.

In that movement, the user applies divine power on the right hand, punching the air and directing the shock wave in the shape of a cone in front of the user destroying everything like a gigantic punch.

Thus, the shockwave was too fast for Luna to defend herself, the fire she controlled was intensified but against the girl herself apparently burning her.

At least that's what it looked like. Something that nobody knows at that moment was the fact that Luna was fully immune to the fire of any sort, dark and common fire. Then, that flames would not harm her, but the shockwave was enough for her to lose balance and be dragged a few meters away, losing focus of the battle, then, with no time to get up, Ken/Goddess of compassion came close to her lifting the sword next to Luna's face.

When the girl saw the boy, she saw that his eyes were completely green, a clear sign of possession which was broke in the next second:

— What? What's going on? — He asked Luna.

— You beat me... Don't you remember?

— Don't tell me... That she possessed me?

— I suspect so, I guess she wasn't very keen to train, luckily, I'm immune to any kind of attack that has the fire element in its essence, otherwise, I was fucked up with my own power.

— I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...

— No. She was right, she did the right thing, in a war of these proportions no one should not pity the enemy, even though she is the mildest being in the universe, so I think you should take this as a lesson, got it?

Ken kept the blade, pondering what the girl had told him but he still felt ashamed and especially surprised by the sudden action of his teacher. He had never seen the Goddess acting like that before.

"Does it have anything to do with that fight you had on my conscience?" I thought, waiting for her answer.

I was back on my feet, still scared and the goddess just ignored me.

Then I left her aside and I gave back attention to Luna and she said, smiling:

— Well, I can tell you that I was surprised that you could hit me at a distance even if indirectly. Well, let's train on inanimate things then...

She extinguished the flames around us in a blink of an eye, it was an impressive skill. Somehow she was stronger than I never thought that someone could be.

Luna went back to her house, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Something that I inevitably thought was the fact that Naomi could be possessed by her Deva its entire time, and living like a puppet for that creature. If so, I have a right to be angry with her given the fact that I fell to a possession too?

The Madame warrior soon returned with targets that reminded me of those shooting school targets, discarding the fact that those the girl was carrying seemed to be steel without any difficulty in carrying them, she even has more physical strength more than me, then she lined them up, ten feet to the left of each.

— This serves to train the accuracy and control of your own power, see the red mark in the center of the target? The goal is to damage just that area and nothing more, it's a test of precision and it isn't about brute force.

— Okay… Let's go.

The girl closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened, revealing that she had an ocular ability as well.

— Know as "The eyes of the traveler", it's an ocular skill that allows me to improve all my reflexes and helps me to control all the paths of my power as accurately as possible. It is my differential. Nobody else underground owns it. — She proudly said.

Luna hadn't even used the full extent of her powers in the earlier fight, she was really a box of surprises, which confirmed that she was not trying to kill me just to test me.

Focusing, she uttered:

— Dark's True path: Extreme flame control!

A ray of fire rose from her arm, much faster than my eyes could follow; reaching exactly the redpoint not causing any singe around, was a literally surgical precision and also destroying the steel like it was of paper.

— Your turn, son of Goddess.

— Where did these powers come from? I really wanted to say that this is all movie stuff, but I also have it but at least I know the origin of my strength. Your strength came from?

— That's history for later, Ken. Come on. — She said with authority.

I took the lead and prepared to strike some blow, I was angry with my teacher for what happened before, so I didn't ask her for any advice in that challenge, I just wanted that she would feel guilty about possessing me.

— Compassion Second Movement: Right Hand, God's Fist.

That time, I was focusing on the target, thinking it'd help me concentrate my strength. However, the wave of air was more powerful than the last time and came accompanied by divine energy, destroying the steel target, and creating a green-ray of energy destroying five kilometers of land forward, by luck it was not the hidden town's direction.

— You are an idiot! If you aimed further to the left you could have destroyed the city mile away! Jesus!

— I'm sorry, I still don't understand the nature of my power. — I was really ashamed, I didn't want to see Luna disappointed as well and I can't stop to think that I failed with Naomi and with everybody else, a useless warrior... Why I've to be so idiot?!

Luna's angry gaze was switched to one like she was an older sis, wanting to advise her younger brother that committed a mistake:

— Okay... You need to act in your way instead of waiting for the Goddess to solve everything for you. The fact that she takes your body whenever she wants shows that you've no control over your own emotions. Being sincere that's probably why you lost Naomi...

I wanted to punch that girl in the face, but unfortunately, she was right, my gentle way of being may have been the reason for all this.

I had known the Deva since I was a child, if I dared to act early, she would lend me her power before, then I could've stopped the kidnapping and saved Naomi before she was trapped in hell itself.

Look at me now, controlled by everything and everyone, unable to help the people who I love.

You're a shame, Ken.

— I'll try again. Step aside, Luna.

— Come on, try to not destroy any cities this time, ok?

At that moment during my preparation for yet another divine blow, I thought of everything that had led me there, the causes, the consequences and how my lack of calm led everything to the shit that was there.

At least if I'd been calmer with Naomi in that time on the Theater, she wouldn't have ended up in the hands of that vile creature, and to reverse that, only calm and peace were possible weapons. So, I aimed the blade of compassion at the target and I said:

— Compassion Third Movement: Judgment.

From this came a concentrated beam of light that hit the target perfectly, crossed it and after passed the target the energy spread in all directions, in a similar way that the second movement of compassion.

— Not bad. It was really a clever idea, it didn't leave the explosive nature of your abilities aside, but it made the expansion happen only after hitting the target, so I think is fair. I think you can really face the demons in the surface, although we have so little time to actually train, just don't lose your focus when we'll go to the surface, ok?

— Yeah. I think now we can go to the park and face the guardian...

— Rest first. There is a guest bed in my humble home, this time can be the last...

— You're always optimist like this, or today's a special day? — I asked, ironically.

— Yeah. But I've some hope as well, I half believe in you, and I'll die for you if it's needed... I, I mean... We would die for you if it's needed.

In some way, Luna left all her aggressive features and really seemed to be someone worried about me, in a legitimate way, even if we had known each other for a truly brief time, I felt that we've some kind of weird, harsh and cute connection.

She takes the lead and opened the door of her house.

I can't say I was impressed by what I saw.

It was a traditional Japanese home, from the feudal era, but much humbler than the great temples of old ages similar to all the other houses who were under the cover of artificial lights and the darkness inherent of the underground.

The house was small and had nothing but old weapons and benches, among other things taken from the surface. Everyone should be living in hell in that place.

— Yeah, it's fucking dirty. But it's better than sleeping on the floor...

She pointed to the guest room, which had nothing more than an inflatable and beaten mattress. I couldn't hide the disappointment for having to sleep there, then Luna smiled briefly and said:

— I almost died to get it from the surface, so don't even think about complaining, okay?

— I really wonder how you're surviving like this, I never imagined that there could be a city inside the mountain... And in this situation of misery.

— That's not a matter for now. I'm going to combine things with Asato and the others. So rest assured, because when I return it will be to go to the surface.

— You'd be cooler if you didn't act like an army agent... — Immaturely I complained.

— It's like I must act in front of others, you know?

— You mean that you're scared too?

— I think I am, nobody wants to die… — She adopted a somber tone.

— Yes, I knew that you have feelings inside. Fear is the fuel of the strong, you know?

— Anyway, I'm going to...

— Yes, I know. I'll try to get some rest.

I could see that the girl was upset with my presence, for sure, everyone seemed not to like the importance I gained by carrying such powers. Even Asato seemed to be being fake with me.

No, I've just thinking shit...

With nothing more to say, Luna turned her back on and left me alone. It was just me and my thoughts from then on.

I lay on the mattress, which was extremely uncomfortable and I stared at that peeled ceiling for a few minutes until I closed my eyes for good.

Of course, I did not want to sleep, soon after feeling Luna far away, I projected my consciousness out of my body; just as at other times I was floating above the house, my interest was on the surface.

My vision resembled those war drones, passing to the surface and the chaos was still installed, that is, it was still "The Night"; winged monsters, taken from some children's book still crossing the skies, illuminated by the red light that incessantly projected itself to the sky and its cloud cover.

I could not get used to that scenario, it was like being in a traditional horror game, or on another planet, a reality where the impossible became possible and stuff like that.

The houses were all rebuilt because there were no more signs of that earlier explosion at the Theatre, I saw that oval building was intact like nothing even happened hours before.

My vision was obscured by some monsters that passed by flying beside me, I could not help but be scared and almost lose the astral projection and wake up.

Everything was very real, I wondered for a few moments if that was how the characters in the fictitious stories felt while the reader just had fun with a book or a story, for the characters, absolutely all the experiences were real and when the story was over, everyone would go into a limbo of oblivion.

Maybe I was in a horror RPG where someone else was rolling the dice to decide my fate; however, I knew I was real even if everything around me was surreal.

But I was not ready for what was to come yet.

I decided to pass the height of the clouds and see what was beyond, had never projected myself so far the powers I bought in that brief time since the explosion was useful to me.

I headed further up, the entire world seemed to be covered by those clouds. I knew from that moment that I was not on the Earth anymore, because the atmosphere was less dense. I could see countless worlds in the sky and a trail of stars, like the famous Milky Way, but of green color.

A stunning sight.

I projected my consciousness to the outer space and headed to the closest planet. When I entered its atmosphere and went to the ground, I was shocked by what I saw: That world was a running instance of that cursed game.

Everything was so flat and weird, it was like to be in a dream.

"This can't be, this is a version of the game and the events are actually happening". I thought.

I "walked" between that 2D houses and streets and IMMEDIATELY I understood why Naomi did what she did being in an unreal world can destroy your sanity in just seconds, I was feeling sick just by passing by the place, I couldn't even imagine being trapped there…

For two years? Jesus...

I went to the school where the game happens, moved by a strange curiosity and after some time I saw someone crying for help next to the building's entrance. I approached slowly with my projection to see it clearly.

She noticed me immediately.

— Ken! Thank god you came after me, I'm Monika, I know this entire mess is confusing, I lost the hope that you'll ever come here and because that I was… Crying.

— It's okay. And why you're here?

— The script is stopped, the player of this universe is not playing now. But… But I cannot stand here anymore. He played around dozens of times, making me experience everything over and over…

— I see dear Asaki. Everything is going to be okay, I think…

— Really? My hopes are around the original, she managed to the real world, you know?

— Yes, I Know. But she allied with the Deva of Pain, so I think that she wouldn't help us all...

— She? Oh… This is bad, she may need some help to seal him then.

I looked to that copy of Naomi stunned, she sounded like that the fact of Naomi allied with de Deva were a plan since the beginning. To make sure, I asked back:

— Seal him? I don't understand, what do you mean?

She walked towards me, crossing my projection and wiping out her tears.

— You really thought that we would betray you? This is a shame, darling. The original accepted that deal because she will die if she won't and she's heading to the church of Futeki to seal the Deva and with that power... Naomi will save the 4 million copies of her in all these universes…

I felt ashamed of what I thought about Naomi at that moment, she should never do any harm to me, I was a monster of thinking that sort of thing…

— I… I'm sorry.

— That's okay. But, stop to think that we are against you. I was sad because we can't escape from this prison yet but seeing that you managed to get here means a lot to me.

— I didn't mean to not trust you all. Sorry…

Then, I wanted to ask her, even if was an alternative version of Naomi. I just wanted to know one thing:

— Do you think Naomi still loves me?

She remained silent for moments that seemed like seconds, but she wasn't worried at all, that copy was smiling to me almost laughing.

— We all share a network between all versions of us, and the answer is yes. Will be ever "yes." Just seeing you here makes me, makes us feel relieved. But maybe, our time has passed and our love isn't like it was before...

— It doesn't matter if things changed we can think about this later... Now I must go. I must help her! Help you all!

— Don't worry now, darling. She might do this by herself, only she can seal that devil away, but you must take down the guardians, and you three will face Corrupted at the end of this day. — She "holds" my hand, trying to calm me down.

I miss you so much, Naomi...

— I even didn't know what I'll say to Naomi when I meet her, look what hell that she has to endure alone...

— You don't have to say anything. Just believe in her, as we all do. I can assure you that she loves you the most…

Hearing that was kind of a relief, for a split second I thought that I'd get her back to me and restore our love, maybe our history could have a happy ending. filled with hope, I asked again to that Naomi:

— I must ask you something else to you, dear...

— Please, sit there. I am kind of a ghost, but you can stay next to me, right?

I "sat" next to her and for a moment I stopped to see that flat and lifeless world around us, the complete silence of the environment was haunting.

I look in her beautiful eyes like I was trying to see right through her. At that moment it was like existed only the two of us there and the time wasn't even passing anymore.

I could feel that the other characters were still dormant, waiting to script to call them, which could happen at any moment or would never happen again.

The artificial sky was beautiful indeed, I could see the other planets, like the one where my body is.

— Did you miss me in these two years? I mean, I couldn't save you when they kidnapped you. And I'd never imagined that you became a game character, so I passed these entire two years searching for you, and you're so next to me this whole time...

— Of course, I do. We missed you, this infinite love was the force that she used to escape to her original body.

— I don't know… I don't think that I deserve you, her… You know what I mean. She'll have to face that Deva alone, she's ever alone and even I try to help her... I can't!

— Shhh... We all deserve to find happiness. — She "touched" my face and kissed my cheek for a time that seemed countless seconds.

Her lips didn't really touch me, she was unreal and all but the feeling was completely real, so I returned tried to kiss her too even without a physical body that was the best kiss of my life.

All my problems left my mind, for example, the war, the nightmare, Corrupted...

One day we'll do this for true.

— Even if I can't touch you. That was magical… What I felt will be transmitted along with all other copies and the original, so she'll know everything that we have done here Ahaha~. But now, you must go. Believe in original, she'll help you at the right time, okay?

— I promise, "another" Naomi. I'll make everything that's in and out of my reach to help every version of you... We'll win this war!

In a click, I was dragged back to my physical body, the astral projection was over.

Back to Luna's house, she was in the door looking me, like she was there for a long time... Then when I waked from the projection she said:

— Looks like you're back, you'll never sleep in that way!

— Yes. And I've news! Prepare yourself, I have some answers about this whole madness, I was traveling to the outer universes.

Luna smiled and approached me, even though her first intention was to complain about I didn't sleep as she asked; she just sat in the floor, looking into my eyes waiting to know what I discovered:

— This world is connected with countless planets, 4 million to be exact. In all of these exists a version of the game where Naomi was trapped.

— That means… There's 4 million Naomi's out there?!

— I talked directly to one of them, she said that Naomi was heading to the Church to seal that Deva away! She isn't fragile or something, in fact, she's smarter than we all thought.

— Wow. We totally misunderstood her… But are you sure that you can trust her? I don't want to be pessimistic but you know that you can't trust everything in this nightmare...

— Yeah, I know that in this nightmare isn't recommended to trust anyone, but I'll do this. Because I'm trusting you too, so I think it's fair enough I trust her as well, don't you think?

— Checkmate mister smart, but... I'll check if she is really trustful.

I stood up and she turned her back to me and took her bow and the sword, I took the Blade of compassion and then we exit the house.

And both of us knew that we'll never come back there.

When we were walking in the underground garners, we stay silent knowing that time may be the last one that we would see that landscape, so we want to admire that whole city for the last time.

We were walking to our death.

— Yes, we're walking to our deaths. — Luna said, half smiling.

— How you know that's what am I thinking?

— I just can. You're searching some logic in this story? I control fire and you have the Deva of Compassion inside you, there are millions of copies of your girlfriend. Seriously, stop searching logic here!

— Okay, okay. And how can you remain calm knowing that we're can die when we go to the surface?

— Because I'll die for a reason you know that a lot of people die every day without any drama or heroism, like my friend, crushed by a pile of concrete. And now I have the chance to fight against a Devil to free all the worlds and end this cycle of sadness and anger, isn't it worth it?

— I'm sure it is...

We passed for everyone and I noticed that every single person was preparing for the battle of their lives.

It'd be a lot easier if they just hide forever, but they have the desire to be free is what moves them forward.

For the first time on years, I was motivated to fight and prevail against the evil, I'll save everyone!

We headed to the exit of the underground and reached the surface, I saw the park 500 meters away to us.

— We're close to the park... Shit, the town is worse than before, so it's how the Night looks... — Luna said, looking in all our surroundings, visibly afraid of her biggest fear: The Night...

In a blink of an eye, a legion of winged creatures came from air and surrounded us, it was a vast number of monsters that were waiting to us all that time along like they sniffed us. We're completely surrounded, our destination, the park, was at the same time so close and too far away because to get there we'll have to fight them all.

No more flees, no more fear, no more weakness.


	10. Bonds of War - Part 2

We had to decide quickly between running and fighting and in doubt as to what should be done in the face of that was a completely unfavorable situation I looked at Luna, she just nodded at me, and I immediately understood what we had to do.

Fight.

— You've tried to come here to be our executioners, but that's not exactly how this story will end. Come on! Come at once! — I screamed.

As if they had listened to my provocation, all those creatures came at the same time in our direction.

Among the great, small, intimidating, and strange, they made a bizarre choir composed of a mixture of sounds and grunts. At that moment, almost as telepathy, we both engaged in a combat strategy: Luna went to the right and started attacking them with the arrows of dark fire while I attacked them from the other side with physical force.

So my friend could reach the creatures that surrounded us from above like vultures while I took care of those that were on the ground.

— God's Fist!

I shouted, punching that enormous creature in front of me who looked like a giant cockroach standing on both feet, three times my size, torn to pieces thanks to my divine power.

Then I felt an approach from behind, using my spiritual vision I could see that there were more than three creatures longing to attack me from behind with their gigantic claws.

I grabbed the compassion blade, turned my body and hit the leader of that bench on the right claw, but instead of there being a balanced shock between his claw and my blade I felt my weapon cut that creature's claw as if it was made of plastic.

With that one already dead I advanced in the second and in the third and I cut their heads off at once, in a growing blow.

I indeed hated having to do that to survive, killing was rude, it was a horrible thing to do and the irony was that I kind of listened to my Master giving me advice on how to conduct the fight, she sympathetically didn't care and even endorsed my attitudes.

But still, I couldn't predict what was to come.

Purple beings with peeled skin with appearances like pterodactyls came towards me in a band of five; before I thought of defending myself I heard Luna scream:

 **— Dark's True Path: Arrow of Doom!**

Then all the winged creatures were destroyed, with the arrows touching their bodies and crossing them as if they were nothing.

In fact, it wasn't such a big group.

Besides, we were both too strong for the level of those beings, which were apparently sent by Natsuki since the monsters were very reminiscent of the monster on the track to the Theatre.

After defeating all the creatures, we shouted in unison:

— Is that everything you've prepared for us?

— Wow, we said at the same time! — I exclaimed.

— I can read minds, dummy. Anyway, we need to go before more of these things come, we don't have time to waste!

We walked to the park passing by the bizarre buildings of the old city of Futeki, it was strange to think that the city was already some time ago a beautiful and peaceful place, where students lived their busy lives and everything was full of energy and joy.

But the reality that presented itself in front of us was quite different, in the street, we only met some weird creatures wandering aimlessly and as they didn't notice us, we decided to not waste time with them.

Our only goal was to find Natsuki as soon as possible.

For the second time, I saw that entrance to the theater trail that also served as a shortcut to the Futeki amusement park, things changed drastically from the first time I saw that half-open iron door, back before I was weak and a total loser, and right there I swore that time would never come back, so, with that one certainty I asked Luna:

— Ready?

— Let's just... — Luna was still visibly worried about the surroundings and especially about the nightmare that was forming in front of all of us.

Then we ran along the trail of the park heading north, passing very far from the Theatre that had been completely reconstructed with the force of the nightmare.

Not long after we were facing the entrance to the amusement park, which was just a rusty two-meters wide door that was also ajar, almost inviting us to our death.

I didn't find any trace of life with my spiritual vision beyond that door, but I well knew that the guardian could perfectly use a mental block to prevent me from seeing everything there beforehand; all we could notice was that the place was simply horrendous as if was abandoned for decades.

— My instructions before we go in Ken: Stay on guard because they often attack by surprise, besides, we won't talk until we find the Guardian, so we'll just communicate by signs... And most importantly: Avoid making any noise, we are in a war and our success here will tell whether we'll have a chance to escape this nightmare or we will be stuck here forever.

— Understood, Madame Warrior.

Luna gave me a shy smile; it was clear that this time she reacted better to my dull joke than the first time.

She stepped forward and headed for the gate, sneaking out so as not to make any noise, as I was accompanying her I couldn't help but notice how fearless that girl was and how naturally she had a leadership spirit.

After I passed through the entrance gate of the park I saw that there was a large corridor extended to our front that gave access to the central courtyard of the park.

This corridor was covered with huge beams and simple tiles, made of some wood, we were looking for any sign outside the standard in that hostile environment.

Luna, who was standing in front of me, suddenly took fright and took a few steps back and I went towards her most quietly.

I could see what had happened to her.

She looked at me, making a sign with the arm of "Be careful" and then she showed what was bothering her, it was a hole in the park's grilled floor: A black hole opened in the ground and was not possible to see the end of it what didn't doesn't make any sense considering the geography of the place, because the plateau had its foundation in a hollow mountain where is the Underground and it not an infinite abyss.

I'm really a smart-ass looking for logic in a nightmare.

We passed by those cracks walking as carefully as possible and having a perfect balance which was something very important, we also walked away a few meters of the other so that in case one fell, they won't pull the other into that abyss in a moment of despair.

One could die, but if both of us die would be the end of the war before it even started.

Finally, that hallway ended, then we were facing the main courtyard of the park: There were several merry-go-rounds and attractions characteristic of small-town amusement parks that there was even a huge Ferris wheel.

From which everything was still illuminated by the "Red Light of the Nightmare" that left continuously from school and served as an awful reminder that we're being watched from afar as if Corrupted was studying our skills and proficiencies for combat.

That huge open area left us vulnerable in all directions.

The noise of the nightmare light was the only sound emitted in the environment, so it was also possible to imagine that something was about to happen.

We were quiet, I looked further to our left and she, to the right. As soon as we exchanged glances she just pointed with her arm in what direction I should go, we would check the entire perimeter in search of the guardian of the place.

— I guess thou didn't bring me who I wanted to face, but you two serve to entertain me... Dummies...

A high-pitched voice echoed through the park, which was Natsuki's without any doubt, she was still nowhere to be seen and from the sound and acoustics of the place, it was impossible to know where she was.

If I were a mere mortal.

I closed my eyes to look for it through my extrasensory vision, that if there were no mental block in that courtyard, I'd be able to find it easily.

Luna had understood what I wanted to do and stood beside me, with her bow wielded, trying to cover as many angles as possible simultaneously.

— Try to find me… Idiots... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. — She was giggling like crazy.

When I searched through my special vision around the Ferris wheel, I finally saw her, sitting there in the top of that mechanism with her arms crossed. Nat was different from what I had expected.

Although her height was the same and she was still wearing her school clothes but her face was completely pale, and she has black eyes bleeding non-stop.

I opened my eyes and pointed her, revealing the location of the guardian:

— There she is. On guard, Luna!

— Oh… I didn't expect you'd find me. — She said. — Well, it's a shame that this battle is over before it even starts… And before I kill you all I want to know your names!

Natsuki's confidence made us insecure, after all, we couldn't predict where the attack would come from, all I knew was that she could invoke creatures with the power of her imagination but I was absolutely sure that there was more than it:

— My name is Ken... Natsuki, I'm the first player! And this is the end of this nightmare, you won't stop us from finding Corrupted!

— The first player? No... — She nodded negatively, dropping drops of blood from the top of the Ferris wheel. — I can't do what that voice in my head is saying... No...

Seconds of silence followed, we were all in extreme doubt.

That's exactly what I feared the most: The guardians were just being manipulated, Corrupted probably wanted to delay us, which leads to the conclusion that she was accumulating power somewhere, getting ready for war.

She should have known about our intentions by now, but it's all speculation.

Natsuki then spoke again with a distorted voice, which tore our hearing, completely different from before:

— It was a good attempt, nothing more expected of the servant of compassion to do that... Always trying to talk to your enemies for a bloodless exit, but now it's useless. You two will never make it to school, this park will be your grave! — She joined the two hands in a sign and sentenced. – You two will be buried!

The bars in the center of the courtyard opened, moving from the middle of the courtyard to the edges, that cascade effect would cause the floor to swallow us up in a few seconds.

Thinking fast I held Luna by her arm, and we moved away from the center of the park, stepping with maximum force against the ground to generate a strong enough impulse to get us out of that situation.

As I returned to the entrance hallway, I realized that the ground was crumbling on that side as well, so I grabbed her harder and used the force of divine impulse to and throw her towards the roof of the building.

For a few seconds, I couldn't hear or think of anything specific, just hoping that the strength of the jump would be enough to take us to the top of the construction. Realizing that we had succeeded and that the dangers had just begun, Luna said:

— For God's sake! That was close, Ken, watch out!

Immediately I turned back and visualized an immense curtain of fire heading towards us. Nat didn't want to give us any space to react, her idea seemed to finish the battle quickly; seeing that I tried to take the lead to protect my friend, however, she pulled me back and said:

 **— Dark's True Path: Absorption**

The curtain of fire was absorbed by Luna and I could not help but be impressed by her inexplicable and impressive powers.

However, with no time for us to think, the guardian simply appeared in front of Luna on an absurdly fast teleport, I was a little far away from both, so I wouldn't be able to help in time, yet I was leaning in that direction.

It was like everything was in slow motion.

Luna didn't seem to expect that sudden movement, so the guardian said, completely euphoric:

— Impressive, but insufficient, you dummy! Now I'll send you into oblivion! Be buried and die!

Without thinking twice, I took a stronger impulse to jump towards the guardian, but what had happened before I could execute that plan surprised me in a way that was the proof that my friend would never cease to surprise me...

Luna closed her eyes, took the guardian by the neck and turned her body on her own axle and threw her back to the Ferris wheel as if the villain were a simple plastic doll.

Finally, Luna said:

— **Dark's True path: Retribution!**

My friend could absorb spells from the fire element and throw them back to the opponent, I didn't have a chance to do anything to help her, I could only admire the big fire curtain thrown at the guardian shortly after she collided with the Ferris wheel.

The fire consumed the construction next to all the buildings in the park in a large explosion.

After the smoke went down, Natsuki reappeared in the courtyard of the park, which was completely on fire but the floor had returned to normal. I could see that she was visibly injured, her body was full of bruises and she was extremely angry.

— You guys destroyed my park! Now you'll see my fury, you bastards! —

Nat pointed her finger in the direction of the sky and conjured up her most powerful ability: — **Summoning technique: Amalgamation of chaos!**

A dark cloud was formed around the guardian and from it arose a deformed creature made of the purest dark energy, it was a kind of two-headed dragon and red eyes of the colossal height of over twenty meters.

Also, the guardian was standing under the monster's right head, with full control of the creature.

From then on, the battle would be serious.

— Destroy them, my dragon!

The dragon roared and fired torrents of dark energy in our direction. Luna was staring at that creature of the nightmare and said to me:

— Let's separate our attacks. You can't face it head-on, this kind of chaotic energy I can't absorb so we must distract it and attack from several points at once.

I couldn't help but admire the calm that the girl had.

I simply jumped to the left toward the courtyard floor as Luna absorbed the remaining flames (the one she used to strike Nat last before) from the taller buildings so she could walk the towers and get closer to the creature's head.

At that moment, we noticed that the creature would have no problem dealing with our separate attacks after all the creature could see in almost all directions thanks to its two heads. However, there was a blind spot about thirty degrees behind its body.

That's where Luna was trying to go.

Returning to reality, that dragon fired another ball of dark energy towards me, then, tired of being a mere supporting actor in the fight, I turned my body and said, pointing my blade at that monster:

— Compassion Third Movement: Judgment!

The ray of light that came out of my weapon dispersed the chaotic energy in various directions and caused direct damage to its head, causing the creature to suffer a slight imbalance, distracting enough not to notice Luna approaching the blind spot.

— Your chance, Luna!

Luna climbed the tower of the park and was at the height of the creature's head, where the guardian was, however, she was still too far to jump. So, I kept hitting the creature with my blows underneath and running from all his onslaughts.

That dragon was extremely powerful but it was too slow to react.

Seeing that Luna was trying to put together some strategy and given the fact that I wouldn't be able to communicate with her at that moment, I decided to advance the creature with my rapid impulse to hit it directly rather than just attack from afar.

I jumped towards the creature, preparing to punch it with all my might, I felt that I could destroy the whole city with the power that emanated from me.

— We're gonna escape this nightmare! — I screamed when I was close enough.

As the creature was distracted by Luna's proximity, I had an open field to punch it in its energy center. The details escaped my mind after I hit that thing, I just heard a blast of energy and I felt as I was using all my strength for that moment, our freedom was all that mattered and I didn't even care if I was going to destroy the whole city with that impact.

But when I opened my eyes, I saw that the creature had only been moved a few meters forward and hadn't suffered anything, it absorbed all my energy.

In the end, I was completely wrong... My strength was just an illusion... I fell to the ground, a ridiculous fall, but it wouldn't be fatal at all, after all the regenerative powers of the Goddess of compassion are incomparable, but my strength… It wasn't enough to defeat the creature.

— Fool! Brute force can't get through chaotic energy! Now, die! — The guardian said, on top of her dragon.

At that moment, I couldn't move.

— You're a shame, Ken. — I heard the Goddess say inside my mind.

— Maybe you're right, except that's not what's gonna make me give up. Luna needs my help and I won't leave her alone!

— Looks like you've forgotten about Naomi, huh? — She said giggling.

— Stop it, I'll show you that I can indeed destroy this chaotic armor that the dragon has, it won't be one failure that will make me give up this battle...

I stood up and saw Luna silently throwing black chains from her body towards the ground, she was up to something and I understood that she would need a distraction to make up her plan and I felt that had to be my role because Luna was much stronger than I was.

— Divine recovery! — I said closing my left fist.

The healing was instantaneous, and all my wounds were healed at the same instant. Even though I had just recovered that newer power, Natsuki wouldn't let me have space to think, which seemed to be a characteristic of her.

She pressured her enemies to the maximum, to make them make hasty decisions.

She screamed loud and clear, already getting angry with me:

 **— Summoning Technique: Chaotic devastation!**

Multiple belts of chaos energy came towards me the intention was to prevent me from fleeing because the attack closed all the escape routes.

Before I could defend myself from that attack, my friend conjured up the magic she was probably preparing since the battle had begun:

— **Dark's True Path: Shallow Grave!**

The chains she threw on the ground joined together and tied the creature completely, burning all the "armor" of dark energy that surrounded that thing, then the guardian, noticing that it was completely locked up got angry and bent:

— What's that? I can't move!

— Ken! Now!

Luna wouldn't be able to hold the creature for long, so I need to make a quick decision and try to execute that creature with something stronger than my past punch. I confess that my confidence was extremely low, after committing a colossal flaw like before.

It didn't matter.

I ran at full speed towards the dragon, jumped as high as possible and came over the creature, I'd hit the guardian directly on the head, I felt that I'd be able to bury that guardian once and for all. Then, when I came close it in my fall, I punched the dragon infinitely stronger than the first one:

— **Compassion Fourth Movement: Worlds Collide!**

A large explosion occurred, causing the park to be completely erased from the history of the city. In a mixture of compassionate energy and dark fire, it was a blow of energy that was possible to see that from anywhere in the city.

After the dust abated, Luna and Ken were sitting on the ground, exhausted, in the face of all the difficulty that had been the battle with the guardian. Speaking of Natsuki, her body was on the ground melting into black ashes as her open eyes glimpsed the last ray of light and then she disappeared completely.

— Unbelievable, where did you learn these things, Luna?

— My eyes help me to predict my opponent's movements, and that guardian wasn't as strong or as fast as I thought. She was trying to throw me an eye curse, known as the "World of Nightmares", my answer to that was to twist her arm and throw her away before the curse was thrown...

— I'm not talking about that. — Ken stood up and pulled Luna by the arm, in a gesture to help her get up. – I'm talking about the chains, I only saw you prepare that thing but I didn't understand how that managed to break the guardian's defenses…

Luna laughed and explained to Ken, completely proud of her accomplishments. For the first time, she was flattered by something Ken had told her, after all, he had always been very cold to her:

— Well, those chains are forged from my imagination. They hold dark fire with them and can burn anything I want, including the creature's armor... The only limitation is that this technique cannot be used to kill, so I needed you to finish it. When I saw you punching the dragon right in the face for the first time, I noticed that the creature's defenses had to be broken down with magic first and not with physical force and...

— Did you see that? Oh... Of course, you did. I felt like a real idiot, going with no plan, just trusting that I'd defeat the creature using brute force. — Ken closed his fists and looked away from Luna.

The warrior girl felt frustration in her friend immediately, she didn't know what she could do or say to make him feel better. Several possibilities of words to support him passed through her mind, however, none seemed convincing enough, not least because she had never had friends in her life before.

It was a challenging task.

In one act she offered her hand for Ken to hold on, without even saying a word:

— What's that mean? — Ken had been taken by that sudden attitude.

— Hey. It's okay, we're together here, just don't forget it. It doesn't matter who will be the leader or find the best strategy what matters is the victory in this war, this comes first than anything else. There's just one more guardian left, let's go!

Even if they were holding their hands facing each other, they were distant. Ken couldn't stop thinking about the love of his past and at the same time, Luna didn't know how to express her feelings.

Anyway, it was a beautiful scene, for a few seconds the two of them felt safe and the exchange of glances between them said more than a million words. It was as if a bond was being born between the two.

Bonds of War.

That little moment was interrupted by a high pitch noise coming from the school's.

— The light of the nightmare... It's intensifying! — Ken said, letting go of Luna's hand, upsetting her, because she was liking to feel it.

— Yes. She is.

— What is it, Luna? That could be terrible! Why are you so calm?

— It's nothing. That light often does that and I can already imagine why...

The nightmare is capable of automatically recreating itself after the damage of great proportions and to do so, the energy was released into the clouds to create a blood-colored rain that reconstructs everything again.

So, the nightmare could only be destroyed if you kill the source of it... In other words, there was no point in destroying Futeki Mountain or destroying the school at the base of force.

— What the fuck, is raining blood?! — Ken asked scared, seeing his shirt get completely soaked in mere seconds.

— Yes... You never saw that before? Soon the park will regenerate... It's a reminder that if we do not defeat Corrupted Monika everything will always regenerate again and again...

The rain filled the crater and in a matter of seconds, all the buildings and the Ferris wheel returned to their "normal" form just as if absolutely nothing happened. And when the reconstruction was over, the silence was absolute.

The calmness was false, but the two young warriors knew that they had to go to the next goal: to look for the last guardian.

— What are the directions, Ken?

— North, near the school. There are no creatures in the way, but...

— But? What's going on?

Ken couldn't believe what he was seeing with his clairvoyant powers: An apartment in that direction had a kind of black hole that twisted the entire neighborhood of other houses. Inside the apartment, there was a shadow, which was supposed to be the last living guardian.

— She, uh... She literally converted her sadness into power. I can barely stare at that area for a long time...

— Depressing powers. — Luna said, laughing discreetly. — She's the last...

— Yes, the last one. After she, we'll face corrupted, I hope to have help from Naomi when this moment comes, since she's also struggling to escape the nightmare...

Luna felt something bad in her heart as if she had been crushed by pins and needles; hearing Naomi's name made her nervous, but she tried to disguise it, staying quiet as the two walked towards the apartment where the last guardian was.

The path was simple, only ten blocks north. It was dangerously close to the School and they both imagined that there would be a big trap when they arrive.

"We're close to finding her..." Thought Luna, feeling her heart racing with terror.

By the third block, all the buildings were completely altered, illuminated by the nightmare light and the reflection of red clouds, the architecture of all the buildings resembled the Gothic style and nothing like the traditional Japanese of the city originally.

It was as if, with each recovery from the nightmare, the city became more distant from being what it was in the past.

— That's not Futeki anymore... Looks like some town in a horror tale, look at the height of those buildings. — Ken said, concluding the obvious.

— I've never seen that kind of building before, I think that Corrupted is slowly pushing this world further and further away from reality itself, something's happening to this place... What if... — Luna put her hands in her mouth for the simple fact that thought ran through her mind.

— Luna? Is everything okay? What did you think?

— Of course, she wants us to defeat the guardians, they're not protecting the school, they're delaying us... She should be hiding in the school to accumulate power...

— Oh... Makes sense, I was thinking of something like that, too. So, we need to overcome these obstacles ASAP, we need to stop her before this.

And so, the two followed the other blocks without exchanging little talks. While Ken was worried about threats around and possible traps, Luna couldn't stop thinking about what she would do when they found Naomi.

She simply imagined a multitude of scenarios and what she was most convinced of being plausible was that when Ken and Naomi saw each other again, their love will rise and she would be forgotten.

"I should accept this once and for all." — Luna thought, closing her fists.

Suddenly, an explosion more intense than the earlier one echoed through the city and a visible shock wave came from the direction of the apartment, lifting the buildings and houses to the skies as if they were just toys.

— What? — Ken raised his arm, conjuring up the protective shield.

— Let me help you. — Luna leaned her hand on Ken's shoulder and said:

— **Dark's True Path: Cocoon of fire.**

A dark green energy shield wrapped in flames rose, protecting both from that insane shock wave. For a few seconds, they held the shield that deviated and burned the red energy that flowed through the city.

When the noise stopped, they lowered the shield and saw the city destroyed again, the buildings didn't even exist anymore and so they could see a shadow, far away, which was probably the source of that explosion.

— Is that Corrupted? — The two said exactly at the same time.

— We need to confirm if it is, I have the impression that it isn't the thing that is causing all this. — Ken said, lowering his hand.

— Let's be careful then, there's no way we can hide so let's approach slowly and ask some questions first, but be prepared for combat or by some trap coming from another side... Do you understand?

— Got it.

As they approached, the shadow was taking shape, and in a certain distance, they could distinguish that she was clearly a tall woman, wrapped in scarlet energy. It was also visible that her hair was long, So, that girl wasn't Sayori, the last guardian.

Realizing that, when they reached a hundred meters from the epicenter of the explosion, Luna warned that woman in a tone of order:

— It's the Corrupted Monika... We finally face to face with her... We're gonna attack in 3 and...

— Don't even think about it, we need to know who that person is and attacking her isn't the best way to deal with it, I don't detect the energy of that monster in her. — Ken pointed to Luna firmly, as if he was sure that it wasn't Corrupted.

— You think that's Naomi, right? Well, let's get closer then. But if you're wrong, I'll never follow your orders again, understand?

The boy didn't understand the warrior's sudden change of tone, it was possible to feel hatred in her words, he just nodded and they got closer to that woman.

Close enough, about 20 feet from that her. Ken recognized her immediately:

— It's you, Naomi, I knew...

The girl had her back to Ken and Luna, and her hair and body shape wouldn't let her lie, that was Naomi. Finally, the two of them would see each other again after the disagreement in the theater.

She turned around.

Naomi's eyes were no longer of an emerald color, but of a scarlet like the light of the nightmare. Seeing that difference, Luna pulled Ken over the shoulder, fearing that girl would be the Corrupted Monika… Disguising herself to attack them after gaining the trust of the two young warriors:

— Ken! I finally found you... Hey… Who the hell are you?

Naomi couldn't help but feel her blood rising when she saw her beloved of the past walking with another girl. and Luna thought the same way, it was possible to almost see a black aura forming between them.

Strangeness,

Resentment,

Hatred.

The warrior girl saw in Naomi's eyes the destruction of all her people, for times and times she saw scarlet eyes like those bringing the night to her world and transforming her entire existence into hell and an unjust struggle for survival.

Throughout her life, Luna had seen several of her friends killed by those eyes, including the person who was with, when she passed by the Futeki Theater.

— I'm Luna. I'm the guardian of the pupil of Deva of Compassion, I'm from the underground...

— I got the key to the underground, but I don't know if it'll help them. — She said taking the key out of her pants pocket and offering it to the duo.

"Representative of the Deva". Naomi thought, remembering something.

— Don't accept that, Ken... We can't trust her like this, she could very well be Corrupted and...

— But you can't see it? She's Naomi! — Ken responded.

— That's what she wants you to think, you idiot! — Luna couldn't stand it and said it aloud and still pointing her finger at the young woman with the scarlet eyes.

— Calm down people, I know you're suspicious, but I'm not on the side of Corrupted and I'm also not her!

The atmosphere of tension between the three was so great that no one dared to get close, and the boy was between the two sides, there were good reasons to believe that the girl was Naomi, but there were many others to imagine it was a trap.

Trying to get out of that impasse he took the initiative, taking steps towards Naomi:

— We'll give you the benefit of the doubt and...

— Ken! — Luna interrupted.

— Relax, I know what I'm doing. Well, anyway... Your eyes are different than the last time I saw you, but I can't feel any dark aura coming from you... We'll give you the chance to prove you're not Corrupted, if you fail to do so we'll consider you the villain of this place and we'll kill you right here...

Naomi remained silent for a few seconds, she'd never seen the person she loved like that, suspicious of her and treating her like a real stranger.

"Does he love this girl now?" Naomi thought quickly.

— Okay, I'll prove I'm not her. Take a good look at my eyes...

— Don't do it, Ken! She's an impostor, don't trust her!

— Luna. Please, I said I'll give the benefit of the doubt...

— Why are you so stupid with that sentimentality?

— There are things you'll never understand. — Ken sentenced.

With that, Luna took two steps back and let go of the boy's shoulder, from that moment on she understood once and for all that she didn't have and would never have a place in his heart and that one way or another he would always be running back to Naomi.

"I shouldn't have had any faith, he loves this girl to the point of fully trusting her like that, for no apparent rational reason. Is that what love is?" — Luna wondered in silence.

— Well, Ken. I know that a lot has happened in these two years and especially in this period within we're in this infernal world. I know that you've no reason to trust me, but I want you to look into my eyes and hear the story I've to tell. Are you ready?

— Yes, I am. — Ken said.

Luna was just sitting back and refused to listen at first, but soon everyone would know the story of the latest events that Naomi experienced.


	11. Crossroads

— So, everything begins back before, in the hospital…

 ***Naomi Flashback Starts***

Walking in the main avenue of Futeki I was thinking about what I'd to do to seal the Deva way and do not have being controlled anymore.

I knew from the beginning that he'd not go easy on me if I try to defy him and I was putting everything in risk, my life, my freedom and everything else.

If I lose that battle, I'd become a slave of the Deva, that's it.

When I reached the middle of the way to the church, I saw a lot of winged creatures. But that time I could see it clearly: They were born by my imagination because they were equal as the monsters of a book that I read when I was just a kid.

 **"The tale of the Brave Hunter"**

When I approached them, I saw that they looked distracted by something, or better saying they were "off" since no one noticed me, so I decided at first to just walk beside them and try to not draw their attention.

But then I felt something inside me, an odd feeling, that I could better describe as an urge to innocent blood, I just couldn't resist it when I looked to that "turned off" creatures, so strong...

So, even that I didn't really want to do that, I called my divine powers once again:

 **— Deva's Will: Lust for blood!**

I don't remember everything that I've done after I say it, because my brain was so excited by the taste of the blood of those creatures that everything turned blank in my mind. I could barely see what I was doing.

I was just eviscerating anything on my sight like they were nothing, but it wasn't my mind ordering that, it was like I was possessed by that Lust for blood.

What shocked me the most was that the creatures didn't even react to "my" attacks.

There were Dozens, Hundreds of them.

After I killed everything that I could, I felt a relief in my body. Like I wasn't possessed anymore then I took a deep breath and said to myself:

— Better now.

I walked with more calm after that and sincerely speaking I was satisfied with that massacre.

I felt like a vampire that needs innocent or corrupted blood to live and to kill my hungry but seeing that pool of blood made me feel a little nauseous.

When I got enough I proceeded to walk in the avenue and then I reached the front door of the church, that building was completely scarier and different from the church of the memories of my childhood.

When I was a teenager I wished so much to get married in that church gave me an odd feeling, as I'd never able to go back to the real world again and I was destined to live and die inside the Nightmare, that'd be the closest of reality that I could ever reach.

The church was completely different than my mental image of that building; I never saw anything on my life like that, because it had gothic style, from the 17th century apparently something between 90ft high.

So, I approached the church and sighed.

"Well, I can't keep lamenting about the past, I need to go forward… I've no time to think about it".

I opened the double doors, not in a gentle way for the sake of the joke… I pushed it violently and let myself in.

Inside of the church, I realized that the place was prepared for me… There were a lot of drawings on the walls and a lot of empty seats, of ancient design, and I also saw a religious altar where should be the preacher of the celebrations.

I looked up of the altar and saw the image of an angel, it was an ultra-detailed sculpture: The angel had wings of gold, detailed with pure silver and his face was completely serious, I could fear his expression, that was like he was judging me.

And I found something written on his sword:

 **"She escaped from the hands of the void"**

When I looked again at the angel, I noticed that he was watching in the direction of the painting on the wall.

For curiosity I went to the left wall of the construction and approached the first drawing, I could sense that I'd find something interesting there.

When I got close enough I realized that it was a picture of various divine figures in pure shades of blue, white and golden, pointing the finger to another figure, a dark one, and it was being expelled from heaven by force.

That scene portrayed really was similar to the history of Lucifer, with the only difference that in the image there were a lot of "gods" and not just one.

I read the title of the painting that was written:

 **"The Corrupted Deva, expelled from the Pure Lands".**

— Yes, I was expelled from the council of the Devas of the pure lands a really long time ago, even before the age of the man. — That ominous voice suddenly said inside my head.

— Oh, I thought that you forget me, Deva of pain. You're silent since my fight against Yuri…

— I was just watching you. And I didn't want to talk too, you know?

—Ahahaha~. That was funny, even someone like you want to have a nice vacation!

—Ha-ha. How funny, anyway I think that something catches your attention to you get here, since there's nothing helpful here to your mission to kill the child of the Deva of compassion… I think you wanted to know about the history of the Deva and came here am I right?

— No, I don't care about it. I'm just messing around and I'm not hurried. Look that! Hmm… what we've here?

The other picture was one from a man holding a girl by her shoulders, she was a redhead, about my height and also had the third eye in her forehead. I could notice the shadow of the Deva wrapping her completely.

 **"The lady who sees everything."**

— Wow, that's me. That's what he did to me… That freaky doctor, Dan Salvato… I promise that I'll kill you by myself…

I felt an urge to cry, but I held it for that time and smiled.

Then I saw something on that third eye and automatically I touched it, that portrait was a fake door and there was an object behind the door in a tiny compartment.

It was a spherical object, like a toy with various red markings written on it, in some language that I didn't understand. I felt that the object was what I needed and right at the moment that I touched it the Deva seems to have noticed what I was about to do:

— What you're trying to do kid? — The Deva asked, waiting for my answer.

I need to act fast because failure could be my end and I will never have another chance if I didn't act quickly.

Remaining silent, I touched the sphere and used my eyes of the Deva to read what was written on those markings, and everything became clear, was a message written in Latin:

 **"TU FUI, EGO ERIS!"**

Immediately I was transported to the reign of my mind where I faced the Deva of pain for the first time. But he was different he was weaker than before, it was like he was cursed by some kind of magic from that spherical object:

"Apparently the object would only weaken his powers and the rest of work is with me". I thought.

— I don't know what you did, but you'll pay for it.

— I'm extremely disappointed that you don't notice in time, I just went to the church because I received a letter from Dan himself saying how I could seal you, and this object weakened you.

— Seal me? Pathetic… You'll never have my powers, even I'm weaker now you're just a human… A human that thinks that's somewhat near to my level, you're really pretentious or just an idiot!

— No, dear Deva… You don't know me how you think you do, you don't notice before? Here's my mind and here I could use my willpower, what's enough to destroy you!

I sighed and summoned two swords using the powers of my mind, they appeared next to me, the name of those weapons was "The blades of redemption", with a curious origin: They were based on a game that I played when I was just a young girl.

Those weapons were sharper than anything that I saw on my life, of course, that I was on advantage because the battle was occurring inside my mind… The disadvantage was... The same.

— Then come! I'll tear you apart, little brat! — He said.

I knew from my experience using his powers that I should not go closer to him, so I'd use long-range attacks until he tires up and then I execute him.

That's the theory.

I threw one of the blades in his direction, and waited to see what would be his reaction:

— Idiot! You think an insignificant weapon can do any harm to me?

"You shouldn't underestimate me while I am inside my mind", I thought.

When the weapon reached close to him, I teleported to it and changed the direction of the hit, but he defended with his knife quickly, like he predicted what I was trying to do since the beginning.

So, I was forced to face him at close range, he tried to hit me on my face and could almost feel the sharpness of his knife, capable to destroy planets if he were in his full power, in a reflex I defended on time, and we hit each other weapons a lot of times, from all directions and angles.

I was blocking high with the right-arm blade and I did a roundhouse attack with the other blade, and then he gave up to face me in close-range, knowing that I'd hit him right in the chest:

 **— Deva's will: Almighty scream!** — He shouted.

At that moment I knew what I've to do: I just threw the blade of my left arm on the air, distant from the range of the gravitational push and teleported to it, sequentially I threw the other blade after his attack vanished, his window of vulnerability:

— I got you!

— Not so fast. **Deva's will: Ethereal Darkness!**

I was crushed by the wave of darkness, it swallowed me up and I couldn't see anything after it.

— This place will be your doom! — A voice said from nowhere.

— I'll never be locked up in a place like this again! This is everything on my mind and…

I woke up of the nightmare that the Deva tried to inflict on me and noticed that I was in front of him, completely dizzy.

He advanced on me like a flash, with his sharp knife heading to hit my heart. I could feel his fury and I only saw him getting dangerously closer.

When his knife was in the distance of centimeters of my body, I smile to him and I blocked his tentative to kill me with my blade, destroying his weapon instantly, and with the my another blade I hit him on the left shoulder, then I kick him on the chest making he flies to the other side of that limbo.

— I'm stronger than you think Deva… Your power will be mine! That is the only way for me to break free from whom tried to control me since all of this started!

He started to laugh at me like I said something ridiculous, I saw him healing himself with dark energy, and then he showed his left hand and said:

— I'm just messing with you, I didn't even start the battle… I have to say that you really are someone tough and strong, but I'm tired of your cocky attitude… **Deva's will: Reality pull!**

He wasn't smarter how I thought he was because he seems to not acknowledge that I figured how to counter all of their abilities.

So, when I felt the gravitational pull, I immediately put the blades on the ground to hold me still in all the duration of the spell and that's what happened: Everything being pulled except me.

— You're really a smart-ass huh? — The Deva was getting really angry. — So, I've to destroy you by brute-force… **Deva's will: Lust for blood, phase two!**

I knew at that moment that he would go in full melee-berserk against me…

He transformed in something different, his knives became claws on his hands and his eyes turned completely red. Before I could understand what he'd become, he just appeared in front of me, and I blocked his claw with my blade and tried to hit him again in a blind point but...

The same strategy obviously won't work.

Then he attacked faster with his claws and I just could defend myself from the hits, I couldn't counterattack due to that speed between the attacks, it was like fighting a hungry beast.

I knew that he'll never tire of that attack because the Lust for blood skill gives infinite stamina and strength so he'd continue to attack until he kills me so I couldn't be just on defensive.

When I saw the left claw coming, I turned my body to the right, evading from the attack, then I cut off his left claw with just one hit of my blade, sequentially I cut off the other and punched him in the face countless times.

I was stronger than he thought.

— Curse you, little brat!

The Deva returned to its initial human-like form and started to levitate on the air... Even he wasn't in his full power, seeing that being just levitating within the air was insane. When he was around 100 meters he announced in a loud voice, like a sentence of death:

— Now… Its time! The humans in incalculable times created a lot of tales and histories about my powers, I'm the being that brings pain and death to mankind and now you'll be an ocular testimonial of my powers… Even that I am right now a lot weaker than I used to be I had something special just for you.

He cast a black sphere in the air above him and clapped his free hands at once:

— **_DEVA'S WILL: JOY OF CREATION!_**

The ground itself was being pulled to the black sphere like that thing was a core of heavy gravity, almost a literal black hole. It was the divine power on its all strength, that I didn't even know about.

But I could feel the amount of energy that he spent on it.

After some time the sphere reunited a gigantic amount of energy and debris from the ground to become a gigantic meteor formed above the Deva, which was clearly his last attack in his arsenal since he couldn't use **Deva's Will: Delete** due to his weakened state.

Everyone would tremble in fear seeing a fucking meteor coming to you, but I haven't fear of anything and even that won't let me down.

Mainly because I also had a last trick.

— So that's your last attack, Deva? I think that you will not any have energy left to do anything after it. That means that if I survive this, I automatically win!

— Do you REALLY think that you can survive? You're not brave is just a fucking stupid bitch! This is how your life will end! You'll die and your body will be mine!

Then, the meteor was accelerated by his power and when it was just some meters to reach me, I remembered about the years that I was trapped in the game and I remembered about something:

"My powers in the game were equal to the powers of the Deva of pain, so maybe I could use a fraction of these powers using the power of my imagination to materialize it.

— I've learned a lot of things with you throughout the years my little Deva, just watching the nature of my powers inside and outside the game, so now I'll show what I got!

I pointed my left open hand to that meteor and said, summoning the power of the game, but that time I'd use it to revert my mistakes and start a new life!

A life where I will never be manipulated again, and I become the true protagonist of my history!

 **— Will of the President: DELETE!**

Then a red beam of light of my power destroyed instantly the meteor, and the Deva was hit on the left upper shoulder, deleting half of his body what makes him instantly fell in the ground.

— What did the fuck happen? This's impossible….

I walked towards him, seeing that I'd won that battle. I'll finally have his powers to control my own life and fix every mistake that I did in the past.

While I'm approaching him, I stated:

— No, it's not impossible. You thought during these two years that you and Dan could control me, making me just a subject to your sick experiments but I'm smarter and stronger than you and everyone thought… But I also have to thank you because of the suffering that you caused me I became that strong...

— I should have imagined that this day would come, you never was someone easy to control, and this whole time you were preparing to face me and regain the lead of your life... Well, I guess that's it.

— That's enough, your powers are mine now: **Sealing**!

Then the object that I found in the church materialized in my hand and started to shine bright colors, from that thing several chains left, crossed and locking his body at once. So, the chains absorbed his souls and lend it to me, making me stronger than ever I imagined.

The battle was over and I was again in the church, back to the nightmare world, and for that moment on I realized that I was more than an ordinary human, I was the new Deva of pain and I'd promise to myself one thing: that powers will be used only for the good and no more to the evil.

Since I was in control of myself, I didn't need innocent blood anymore.

But I wasn't totally free yet.

"Now… I can face Corrupted in a fair battle! And then I can save everyone from this prison!" I thought.

I recomposed myself of everything that happened, breathing deeply, trying to calm myself down.

Breathing in…

Breathing out…

"Okay, I think I'm a little better. So, where was I?"

I looked for the details of the church once again and my vision was completely altered, I could see trails of energy everywhere and visualize even the intentions behind the construction of that building.

Basically, that church is a "Safe place" that my mind materialized inside the Nightmare, Dan made me find that place because it was where I could connect with my subconscious willpower at the maximum.

About the intentions, he did that because he wanted to use me to kill the Deva to seal his powers, then he would use a device that he hides beneath the desk of his office, a remote control connected to the chip inside my head so he could just make me his slave after I escape the nightmare.

But one thing that he didn't expect is that I just could…

I just mentalize the chip being deleted from my mind and that happened, I knew that I was free from his control when I felt a great sensation of happiness after doing that:

"No one can restrain me…" I thought, smiling at my image on the mirror of the wall.

Speaking of my reflection I'd found significant changes in me… First of all, my hair was brighter, my iris and eyeball were in that same tone of pure scarlet of the beam emitted on Deva's will: Delete.

My clothes were a red dress and a black shirt, covering my legs.

I'd call myself by the name of Red goddess, I just laughed off that title, it was like I wasn't in a horror history anymore.

Maybe I'm now in a fantasy one.

Breaking that chain of thought I looked in the other paintings of the church since they were put there by my subconscious maybe I'd find something useful.

I approached the third one where a woman was looking a destroyed truck in the road, I could saw the details of the rain falling in the girl and looking even closer I noticed some markings written on the truck, that I didn't know if they were there before or is just something from the painting.

 **"Departure, Change of fate."**

— So, this is a temple of my memories? If so, the next drawing should be…

I was right on my analysis: The fourth picture is a portrait of me and Ken on the Theater of Futeki, separated for that glass mirror, where I noticed the speakers on the corners of the stage and sighed seeing it.

We were arguing with each other… I could feel the anger between us, but I found something interesting when I focused my sight on that picture for something like ten seconds: I could clearly see a dark fog, the Corrupted Monika energy all over the place, manipulating us… Her ultimate plan was to split us apart and head us to a life and death fight.

 **"Broken Hearts."**

The Fifth painting was from a scene that I think that was the most important until then: Me and Libitina battling in the roof of the hospital, in the exact moment when Younger Naomi protected me from the certain death, she was in front of me with open arms and looking to me with a grateful smile.

"Why did you help me so much, younger?" I thought, without gain an answer, maybe she was busy, who knows?

 **"Sisters of blood"**

With that picture analyzed there was no more to see on that side of the church, then I walked to the other side passing between the empty banks.

The other paintings were ordered in the same pattern.

Seeing that every picture is of a more recent episode I was getting anxious if I'd see some predict of the future or it'd end in the present moment. When I passed to the back seats of the church, I saw the Sixth painting.

How I was expecting that painting was the battle between me and the Deva of Pain, capturing specifically the exact moment when I seal him, I smiled when I noticed the chains involving him and leading power to me, observing that image is what makes I realize that I really killed an evil divine being.

 **"The slaughterer of Devas."**

I felt that the next picture would be of my future since there were three left to contemplate. The Seventh picture was the first one of something that didn't happen yet. From what I could see (Because the picture was a little dirty), I was facing the Last Guardian who should be Sayori by her appearance. When I focused on her face for some time I understood the situation and because of that realization, I felt pity for her.

I could see that she was being controlled by Corrupted that was pulling the strings beneath Sayori's, there were string in her arms, legs and around her neck, wrapping her in eternal torment.

"Poor Sayori, I wanted to free you of Corrupted's control as well". I thought, closing my fist and for last, I saw the title of the picture.

 **"The Last Guardian"**

I knew that the next picture would be the last, I was expecting something revealing there.

I was right: The Eighth and last painting was different from all the others, in the first place there was no title written above it. Paying attention to the painting I saw that it was a drawing of me inside the school…

"That means that I'd be able to trespass the barrier?" I wondered.

I was playing piano with the entire world on my surroundings in ruins, with a lot of destroyed stuff around and there was no roof on the school as well, maybe that's a glimpse of what could be the ending of my history.

After all that I confess that I was frustrated with not seeing anything useful from that picture, but when I sighed on frustration and prepared to leave the church, I gave another look to the drawing, then I see that everything changed.

The image turned completely pure.

I mean… The world wasn't destroyed anymore, there was like everything was restored to normal, the chairs around me were intact and the curtains revealed the light of the sun, I could almost feel the serenity of that image.

Another thing that changed was how I was portrayed in the front view of the drawing while back before the picture was taken turned back to the view of the painter.

I paid some attention to my smile and I realized that it wasn't an ironic smile like I always do, it was a sincere one, so a title appeared above the painting, being written letter by letter in front of me, it was like something in the chains of reality itself changed and I was thankful for that.

I felt some hope to break free from the nightmare and finally being able to be happy again!

 **"Pursuit of Happiness: A battle for freedom"**

At that moment I understood what that painting means and smiled back to it, laughing at relieving… Finally, I deeply sighed and left the church behind, I was grateful to see that my mind wasn't just destruction and chaos and I was in a safe place that also gave me hope.

I went outside and the first thing I saw was an explosion from the direction of the Amusement park that blown up everything in that direction, but that energy wasn't a dark one, it was the purest magic flowing, it was something that makes me smile involuntarily.

Then, to clear things up, Younger Naomi said to me within my mind:

(Ken defeated Natsuki, the second guardian… With a little help from a friend and this is the result of the last attack to take her down).

— Oh… I see. So, I need to defeat the Last one Asap… Right?

Moments of silence came like the younger was in doubt about what she should say to me, I was uneasiness with it because it was really rare to her have any doubt about anything, she was that type of personality that just say and do what comes to mind, so I waited for some instants and I asked to see if our contact were broken or something.

— Younger?

(Oh, Yes, yes. I was just gathering information about our current state, but it doesn't matter now… Oh… Ok, you should go to your house, where you raised, Sayori is there and after defeating her there will be only Corrupted left)

— Understood. But, younger now that I have got the power of the Deva, I couldn't just break Sayori free from the control of Corrupted. I just… I just hate to harm my friends…

(Unfortunately, she was being controlled for so long that breaking the control in that way would be impossible and I'm not certain about what Corrupted is doing right now… Oh… Oh…)

— What is it Younger? Did you discover anything? Say it!

(This's terrible… She is gaining powers inside the school, she is just using the guardians as distractions, because she knows that she can't defeat you and Ken since you two became too strong, especially you, Naomi…)

— Is that true? I'm so strong that Corrupted now fears me?

(Indeed, she has only the powers of half of the Deva of Pain, the same as you… But you should stop asking and must defeat the last guardian now, while we've time!)

— Alright, thanks Younger… I guess.

(Hahaha. Saying thanks to herself is a wonderful thing!)

I headed to my house and in every step that I take, I could feel how I was fucking powerful.

There were no monsters around and even the city was completely different from when I was a kid, looking again to the avenue of my home after some time walking makes my shiver, then I stopped and started to think:

"This hell isn't my home… I don't deserve any of it… I deserve happiness, as well the other girls and I know that I can find salvation to them after everything here is over… Who knows? But now, it's time to act and since Corrupted is watching me I should act insane to make she think that I still possessed by the half of the Deva".

— Here goes nothing. — I said, sighing.

I went ahead and finally I make it to where my apartment building was and I immediately saw Sayori there, but there was no house in that street it was just her in the terrain, she was looking down and seem to not noticed me, she was like the creatures that I saw earlier before, "turned off" sort of thing.

Getting closer I noticed that there was a huge dark circle on the ground around her and just being close to that energy I could feel all of her sadness and anger, everything that she felt just before I killed her for the first time.

Seeing closer it was like a black hole of bad feelings and the worst part is that all the ambient around her were distorted by that power, the reality was being destroyed by her hate.

— She doesn't was satisfied with just making me kill myself a hundred times in the game, she wants something more, she wants to see me suffering on all eternity for no reason… Monika is the worst thing that landed on the earth, and I'll destroy everything, to make the world feel what I am feeling…

Sayori's voice was just a whisper, and that's was enough to me… She'll fight me for her own will, even she was controlled by Corrupted I could feel her anger to me.

And for some instants, I cried seeing her thoughts and what I've done to her… Yes, I cried.

I'd never want to kill anyone, I just wanted to escape… Seeing that hatred makes me sad, my entire journey only left a trail of blood where I passed.

And for the umpteenth time, I was forced to kill her to progress in my goals.

— I'm seeing you, don't pretend to me… You'll not leave this city alive… Monika! — She raised her head and I could see her dead blue eyes and a huge wound in her neck, strangled by a hope.

— I'm not pretending, I just want to see you the last time… I'm sorry Sayori but I need to do it again…

— You ever do this, you ever say "I'm sorry Sayori but I need to kill you to get my freedom, my love, my happiness" every time is that same shit! Did you really think that this would be a good excuse for your actions?

— I'm sorry Sayori. — I said, lamenting.

— You're really a brat! Now we'll switch roles… I'd have my vengeance… **Path of the doomed: Happy Thxughts!**

A greater circle appeared all of sudden and reached me, I was completely possessed by the same thoughts of Sayori before her first death.

I could say that I faced the very face of hell: They were destructive and painful, it was like I'm being ripped apart by inside and by outside at the same time. But in some way, I wasn't so affected by those thoughts.

When I tried to step out that circle, I noticed that I couldn't walk.

I was locked up in the ground.

— Shit… I can't move.

— Yes, you can't. I'm surprised that you don't get crazy until now, you have got a strong mind. But since you can't move, you'll just die now by force! **Path of the doomed: Nether Grasp!**

Countless tentacles went in my direction I could see my death clearly with that attack. The plus side was that Sayori wasn't aware of my evolution on powers back then.

Then I smiled and just waited to the attack and when the tentacles were just so close, I said:

— **Deva's will: Time-Space Dash.**

I just dashed away from the tentacles and went outside of the circle, in the end, I was just acting to her, she really thought that could beat me... But in fact, it wasn't that hard to dodge it, I was a Deva… Remember that.

— Easy… You're not fast, dear Sayori… You've no idea what I became in this meantime… AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

"Damn, that's acting was awful and forced… I hope that I could fool who's watching me." I thought, almost laughing.

Sayori was silent like she didn't expect that I could manage to dodge that attack, then she smiled and said:

— Well… Well… Well… You're most tough than I expected… But, look to my eyes and you will see death itself, prepare to be in the dark forever, prepare to face the demon that you make me become! **_PATH OF THE DOOMED: INSTANT DEATH!_**

I hastily closed my eyes recognizing what that skill of her means: If I look on her eyes, I'd have a terrible death, being a Deva brings a lot of knowledge about the techniques of your enemies you know?

— Oh, you choose to fight without your vision, let's see if you'll find me then.

I was just using my senses to have some idea of where she was I could feel her fast approach in my left direction. When she approached, I turned my body and fled that hit, I even didn't know what weapon she was using but by the sound of wind when she came to me seems like a great reaping hook.

Sequentially she attacked me by the other side with that freaking weapon and I dashed backward, I'd to think in something fast to win that battle without opening my eyes.

I used my newer skill, only that it can be used only by the fact that I was a human and a Deva at the same time.

 **— Deva's will: Lust for justice.**

I felt an immense power flowing within my veins, I could "see" a figure of Sayori going in my direction like a trail of her energy, so I just dodged the attack when she came.

I saw that she loosed her balance with the weight of her weapon; I used that window of microseconds to hit her in her left eye with my knife, I took off the weapon of her hand and used it to hit her right in the eye, completely destroying her face, exposing the muscles and bones of the face.

— You're dead now Sayori… Accept it!

Now that her eyes were gone, I was safe to open my eyes again and then I saw Sayori with huge wounds in her face, there was blood on everything and she was standing on knees, defeated. But when I'd kill her, she said:

— You… Won… But, this time… I'll not DIE! **_PATH OF THE DOOMED: DEVASTATION OF WORLDS!_**

I saw a light on my vision... She'd really push things to the edge… Her plan was to kill me destroying her own body, but I just used my **Deva's Will: Time-Space Transportation** to go to another dimension when that explosion occurred.

I was safe.

 ***Naomi Flashback Over***

— And that's the history, now you believe me?

Luna would say something because she really doesn't believe a thing about that crazy history that Naomi told, but she was stopped by Ken who said with the voice of the Deva of compassion:

— Calm down, my child. She's telling the truth… Naomi is being sincere and everything that she tells really happened… She's on our side.

— I… See… So, sorry for not believing in you, Naomi… You look so much like what I've heard about Corrupted that I just… Never mind.

Naomi was feeling something weird coming from Luna like there was something wrong with her, but not in a bad way. It was just something to see later, then she felt that she could trust her and Ken.

— It's okay. Suspecting me is completely normal at this point of how things are going. But we're here together and the guardians are gone. So… — Naomi pointed to the school. — That's our final destination…

The trio was in all in the same page, even though Luna was ashamed of what she said to Naomi she knew that any help would be really useful and the warrior could feel Naomi's divine power flowing.

The only thing that mattered is to reach the school and defeat Corrupted, so Luna tried to forget and dismiss her thoughts, she needs to think about the war incoming.

But before, Ken said to the two girls:

— I'd call our army to come, but first I need to mentally connect to your two because I know that we'd be the ones who'll face Corrupted. With that connection, we can communicate throughout the battle without speaking a word, so our plans wouldn't be unfolded in the course of the battle… Got it?

— Okay. So how we do it? — Luna asked.

— Yes, how? — Naomi was really interested to see how the abilities of Ken actually works.

— It's simple. **Compassion path: Connection**

 _(So, that how it works, we can't read the other's mind, but we can use the force of thought to communicate, doesn't matter the distance between us)_. Ken explained.

 _(Understood, can you all hear me guys?)_ Naomi asked.

 _(Yes)_ Luna answered straightforwardly.

 _(Alright, but we don't need to use it right now. If you all excuse me I'll call the people of resistance)._

— The Resistance? You really met new friends Ken… — Naomi said with a sad tone.

— Yes, they are a group that lives on the underground, you may know this history, Naomi. I tell you about it when…

— Oh, don't force yourself to remember it, Ken, we'll solve everything later, ok? — Naomi comforted Ken giving him a vibrant smile, a truthful one.

— Just go already Ken, there's no time for discussing the past. — Luna intervenes, impatiently.

— Okay, okay. You two, Chill. I'll do this just gimme a sec.

From the moments forward Ken communicated something with the people of the underground, especially Mr. Asato, and in the meantime, Luna and Naomi avoided exchanging glances.

Luna then looked to the school, thinking about how would be her life after and if they could escape from the Nightmare because she doesn't remember how things were before.

She could be happy in any way? She started to like Ken but then Naomi appeared, and she felt that she was put in the corner.

Naomi, on the other hand, was looking to the direction of the outside of the town, understating that she has to have some plan if everything goes wrong…

— Alright… So, they'll arrive here at any moment. — Ken stated.

— Excuse me you two, but I've something to say before we go to School.

— What is it? — Luna was curious about since Naomi seemed to her to be the type of person that doesn't talk too much.

Naomi pondered for some seconds, she was choosing the words to try to not alarm her two colleagues of battle, but she knows, deep inside that it'd be impossible because she was about her position in that Nightmare.

— I don't know if you two know that but I'm the source of this Nightmare, of course, this is not in my control any of it, but if we lose this war… And if there's no other way to destroy the Nightmare… Kill me. This will solve the problem and you two could be free in the real world… I gave to any of you this permission, I won't react… Promise.

Ken covered his mouth with his hand in disbelief about what Naomi said, he was completely devastated about that plan. She authorized them two to kill her if Corrupted wins the war against the Resistance, that action would save the other universes to not being swallowed by the darkness.

Luna, that was since ever more reasonable about everything, way more than Ken, was too in shock.

Seconds of silence occurred.

While Naomi looked at the school with the sure that she'll save someone in the end, even though she dies, the other two gave a sad look to her, knowing how she was suffering to have considered that crazy plan.

No, nobody knows how Naomi was feeling at that moment.

— Hey, don't be so quiet you two… We'll not lose this, I just said it because I want you two to be happy together even in the worst-case scenario.

They were obviously ashamed by what Naomi said, Ken and Luna looked to each other in that instant. Naomi was thinking that the two were a couple or something like that:

— What? No! It's not like that! I and Ken have nothing like this…

— Yes, Naomi. It's not like that!

— Okay, okay… I know. I know that I lost you Ken, but that's okay. We'll live other lives together, just will not be this life… I accepted it, don't worry.

— What are you talking about? — Ken was confused by the predicting of her… Girlfriend?

— Nothing relevant… Okay, Everyone! — Ken and Luna just didn't get the joke and Naomi was really frustrated by it, but she continued and explained: — We'll fight together when Corrupted shows up if she and I really are the same person, and how we takedown her guardians pretty quickly now she should be preparing an army to delay us to reach the school. So, we face Corrupted with the best of our power!

Naomi pointed ahead of the trio, only the school was visible since Sayori make the whole town disappear and there was just an empty plateau and incredibly only the school was intact.

Futeki became a true wasteland.

— But… Miss Naomi.

— Leave the miss aside, Luna. Just call me Naomi and will be fine.

— Right… Naomi, it's complicated to ask that… We'll fight a war against the creatures of Corrupted, and if we hold our strength that could be dangerous to our people!

— Yes, she's right Naomi. Just us in full power will be enough to win against the creatures, if we hold it our powers there could be terrible for The Resistance!

— Hmm… You all not willing to die if it's necessary? You two may know that… But I think you two not know because you guys didn't see Corrupted in person… She's stronger than all of us together. If we go to the battle with her tired, will be the end of everyone! Do you understand?!

Ken and Luna looked to each other and they gave an agreement nod to the new leader of the team.

— Alright. So… Look, Naomi, they arrived!

Sounds of the beating of instruments are heard and Naomi saw some standards bearers in the distance, coming from the south, they sound like millions of people coming like a powerful army that really could help them to takedown Corrupted and her demons.

The standard had an R in the center, in red color while the flag was white.

When they get closer, Naomi was amused by how many the army was and how it looked like more soldiers were coming from the underground. She noticed a lot of witches, warriors, and arches. Everything was just so surreal, but she was unease about what she saw in those people.

"They are just so… Flat. Like Luna… Does she and her people were real?"

Naomi thought, but didn't even try to say it to Ken, he'd never understood and that would make him goes... Non-happy.

— So, we're here. — Said Mr. Asato to the trio, and at once noticed Naomi with the two. — Who is she, is a friend of yours?

— Yes, she is with us. We are...

— Friends. — Naomi intervened.

— Yes, she is my friend and she is strong enough to go with us!

— So, be it. Oh… There was our destiny? The school… The source of the Nightmare, it was a long time ago that I saw this light for the first time.

— I think that we're ready we need to go now! We have no time to being distracted — Luna said, interrupting the amusement of Asato.

Then everyone went to the school, the beating of the drums of war were the only sound that could be heard around the town aside by the light of the Nightmare. Luna was walking with a group of archers of the Resistance, her friends of a long time.

Ken and Naomi walked silently together, while the son of compassion was troubled about everything that he heard of her Girlfriend, Naomi was proud of how he gained maturity in that nightmare, and how he looked strong and powerful, she just smiled to him and he smiled shyly back.

— I'd never imagined that we'll do something like that Naomi…

— Yeah, but I'm happy that you're here… I missed you so much Ken, I hope that after all that we can solve our problems and all… But for now, I'll show you all of my power!

— You're happy even in a situation like this… Naomi, you really didn't change in those years…

— Maybe so Ahaha~.

And they'll fight a war together, unfortunately, that would be the last time that they will smile to each other.

On the other side of the war, inside the school, Corrupted was watching everything from the window of the room where she born, the classroom 300-E, more known as the literature club.

That school was obviously a copy of the school of the game with the same details and the same amount of chairs, the poster in the back, the never used chair of the teacher and the closed on the other side, everything protected by the double blue doors.

The only building left on the city, protected by a barrier of hatred, the main source of that hellish scenario of Futeki.

Corrupted was amazed by how everything worked how she most wanted, laughing of the hope of her enemies, she said to herself:

— Well, in the end, they did what I want… I couldn't kill the guardians by myself, so the trio did that to me how I wanted in the end. They aren't "completely" dead, you want to see how beautiful they are now? So… **Deva's will: The Gate of Life and Death!**

Three graves appeared from the floor, with the bodies of Sayori, Yuri/Libitina, and Natsuki.

All of them were heavily injured, Yuri was completely disfigured with the hundreds of knives holes in all her body, Natsuki was with her brain exposed with that huge wound caused by the final punch of Ken and Sayori was carbonized, almost impossible to recognize, but Corrupted didn't even care about how they friends died, she just laughed when she saw how injured and fragile they are.

— It seems like the Trio had a lot of fun killing all of you, but that doesn't matter to me, neither to all of you… My longtime friends. I've to use your powers for the last time, to make my dream come true: All DDLC universes along with the real world will be pure darkness at the end of this day! And to do that I'd need the powers of you three! **Deva's will: Absorption!**

Corrupted absorbed the three girls at once pulling their energy to her body using steal sharp and dark chains.

A big red sphere involved Corrupted Monika, destroying the room completely but not doing any harm to the external of the building, she felt the amount of power she gained to ascend in an entire another level, above of every single Deva that existed.

Seconds later she appeared from that sphere, Corrupted was in a completely different form: She wasn't wearing her default school clothes anymore, Monika was wearing a white dress with a black triangle in its center, around the chest. And was wearing a black shirt, in the same color as her arms. Her eyes were yellow, and her eyeball was pale white, a true God was born.

She looked in the windows of the classroom and said, realizing what she'd become:

— Yes! Yes! This is the real power, I can feel the energy of the three girls flowing in me… Hey… But wait… I don't have the third eye yet… Well, there's no problem because I know where I can find it AHAHAHAHA!

Ascended Corrupted Monika could go easily to the outside world with all the abilities of the other girls on her hand, the possibilities to that goddess was limitless in that time, she wasn't, of course, in her full power since the other half of the Deva was sealed inside Naomi but she was in a level above all the Deva's together, so no one could, in that time even give her a hard battle.

But even that power couldn't satisfy her desires since the third eye would multiply her force by an infinite amount of times, and it's a fact that the third eye works better in Devas than in the humans. When she acquires that eye, she could easily destroy a planet only thinking about it.

She went outside of the Nightmare, using one of Libitina's abilities: **Ethereal displacement** , that allowed her to cross different dimensions of existence and go to the middle world, (something between the real and the nightmare world).

She appeared on STY-016, an adjacent road of STY-017 that serves to access Futeki, the wind was calm, and everything was pretty silent there, she turned back and saw the town swallowed by the Nightmare.

And it was like nothing was happening there because the Nightmare created a normal copy of the town to no one notices what's going on in the city, that happened when Corrupted used **Deva's Will: Ethereal darkness** in the first time. Hence, an outsider couldn't see what's going on in that city with just a naked eye.

"Soon, even this world will perish with my power and I'd not need to hide what I'm doing anymore, for now, I must find my creator and takes his third eye… It's funny how he thinks that he'd be able to face me, well… He could if I didn't absorb the three guardians…" Ascended thought.

Whereas she walked a trail of dark energy followed her, killing the grass around the road, destroying and burning the asphalt itself, as well everything around her, still she was holding 99% of her power to not destroy the Earth with her presence and to not cause an unsolvable paradox, that could easily destroy that timeline itself.

Because of this, she was walking patiently to her destination to not have a risk to draw some attention, she wanted to catch Dan by surprise and also to not give any chance of his escape.

After some minutes of walking, she found the Markov Laboratory, seeing that building make Ascended smile like a psycho remembering everything that occurred there and how she was excited about her plan after thousands of years trying to mix up things together.

Finally, the Deva of pain managed to reunite that amount of power, first absorbing the evil and corrupted half of Naomi, then absorbing the souls of the guardian. The feeling of that power was stunning to that entity.

"After I absorb Ken, Luna and Naomi's souls I will go to the pure lands and destroy all of the other Devas and bring darkness even to that place!"

Suddenly she saw Dan Salvato in the observation spot of the building, apparently amazed by something in his sight but he didn't notice her.

Since Ascended wasn't real she could trespass all the security devices without any difficulty and no one would see her, she just walked in the insides of the facility, passing through the floors until she reached the front of Dan's room.

"Heh… Dan, it's the time to being part of me…"

She passed through the door like a ghost to his room.

Being in that room gave Ascended a lot of memories that were indeed Naomi's memories... From a time that she was locked there, being subject for the sickest experiments to awaken the third eye that you could imagine, Corrupted was really affected by that place but dismissed that chains of thought calling for Dan:

—Dan Salvato… Look to me, my dear.

—What? — He turned to her and was shocked by her appearance.

But Dan changed too: He had the third eye in his forehead completely developed, exactly what Corrupted wanted, so she gave a malefic smile to him and answered:

— I'm the own personification of the Nightmare out there, but I'm stronger now. I am the Ascended Corrupted Monika and I came here to take your powers…

— Oh… Corrupted Monika… You really are different now, but I can sense your current power level, in fact, I can see everything! And you're not a match for me, so I'll have your power, you're just my creation, my subject… Nothing more! Nothing less!

Ascended Monika laughed at Dan's determination to have the absolute power because he didn't know that he didn't have any chance against her.

— How cute of you… You thought that you were the master pulling the strings… But I have got the powers of the three souls of the other subjects inside me, but there's something that I need to be complete again… Your powers!

That moment the assistant of Dan appeared on the room, but he ran away the commotion, just because he felt the terror of seeing Corrupted and he knew that she would destroy everything in just some moments, he just left the work of his life on that room, screaming on the corridors:

— EVERYONE! RUN! SHE IS HERE! SHE IS HERE! THE DEVA OF PAIN!

— Oh… Some of your crew understood now what's the right thing to do, it seems like you're alone now. I'll propose something to you then, surrender now and your death will be not that painful…

Dan just formed something like a null sphere and threw in direction of Ascended, but she just laughed off that and said:

— Poor Dan… **Path of the Doomed: Instant Death!**

And in a second, Dan looked in the black eyes of Corrupted and his heart just stop pounding and he died in a split second, falling in the ground like a toy and his sphere of energy vanished in the air.

Dan Salvato did all of he did for nothing, his creation just destroyed him without any pity, not even giving a chance.

— An insignificant death for an insignificant person, that's the way this should be. He failed to measure my powers with precision… Well, this miscalculation cost his life. Anyway... **Deva's Will: Absorption.**

Then Corrupted just drained his soul with a black chain and got the third eye too, split open in her forehead, it was an ominous eye, equal of the cover of the book of Yuri: Portrait of Markov.

— Now… Now! NOW! I REACHED THE ABSOLUTE! — She calmed down and had an idea. — Well, let's test it if this eye really works… **DIVINE: RECKONING OF DARKNESS!**

An immense explosion occurred, wiping out the place where the lab was.

The crew of the building didn't even see anything, they just got disintegrated.

After that, an immense dark portal of more than 200ft high emerged from the ground connected to the deep subconscious of Naomi or in other words it was a deeper nightmare world, where exists just chaos and nothingness.

It was like the hell opened in the Earth because a lot of demons escaped from there and when they were flying around Corrupted sight. She said to them, in an authority tone:

— Go my children, and protect my school from the humans, I want to test their powers… Kill all the humans that you see, devour the corpses of them as well!

— Your wish is my wish. — The leader of the demons said.

The leader was a kind of general, a demon with 60ft with a beast form, gigantic claws and bizarre teethes, which was clearly one of the worst nightmares of Naomi.

The creatures emerging by that portal was completely freaky and nonsensical, some of them were a mix of dragons and lizards, others have dozens of heads of the most varied sizes, the kind of thing you should see in the subconscious of a traumatized person.

Observing the creatures heading to the town, Ascended Corrupted Monika felt a worry in her heart, that was pounding at an insane speed. She was worried about the risk of losing that war, it was like a chill down her spine, a bad impression…

— What's this? Something happened to Naomi… I can't see her for some reason, but it's like she gained a lot of power all sudden. This can be bad, so I should go back to school…

Corrupted went back to the school and showed up in her classroom, looking through the window she saw her army protecting the school and ahead of it, to the south, there was the army of The Resistance coming…

"Why I feel it? That feeling? That's just an impression, I am the absolute goddess and I am above of all these tiny humans, but still… Why I am worried?"

— So, they're coming. Oh… I can feel the energy of Naomi right now, I got it now, she sealed my other half, he was really a fool in the end… Hmm, so I'd need to steal her powers too. And Ken… Well, I'd be equally useful to have his powers. But there's no rush…

On the other side of the preparations of the battle, The Resistance was marching slowly to the school and they noticed immediately the sudden appearance of the Corrupted's army, emerging from a dark portal, the creatures were in line and ready to the battle.

 _(They… They're strong, I can feel it)_ Ken communicated using his powers.

 _(This is serious… I didn't expect something like that… Remember what I said before about holding back your powers? Forget it, these creatures are in almost the same level as the Devas)_ Naomi changed her thoughts and planning completely and she thought to herself:

"How Corrupted did that?"

Then, Luna gave her opinion too, she was in a greater vista of things because she was in the backline of the army above the vehicles of war seeing the frontline of Corrupted's army.

 _(They have a strategy too, the winged creatures are hiding behind the line of large and melee monsters, so they aren't just a bunch of idiots… I'd call the first attack, we're going to attack the backline first and then everyone follows me, okay?)_

 _(You're really someone clever, Luna, I'm impressed, so now you're the leader of our trio, let's go!)_ Naomi confirmed her trust in that girl, that reminded her a lot.

Then, Luna said with all her strength of her voice, in a way that everyone could hear:

— We were, in this history, an oppressed nation, but we're brave people too and being raised with all of you was the best thing that happened in my life. When I was just a weak child fleeing from the Night, Asato gave shelter to me… I thought that I'd expelled for being a foreigner but all of you that accepted me as part of The Resistance… And now is the day that we'll conquest our freedom from this world of darkness… We'll give our blood and our lives if it's necessary, but we won't be defeated at the end of this day!

The army screamed the Resistance's war cry in unison, making the whole plateau tremble and Corrupted's army got ready as well.

After that, everything was silent again, both sides were completely focused, the vehicles of Resistance stopped moving and the other lines stopped walking as well.

— Frontline, prepare! —Luna said.

Naomi, Ken and the melee line of the Resistance raised their weapons…

— Middle-Range casters, prepare!

The middle range mages and witches started chanting buffs and spells, aiming at the biggest creatures…

— Backline, prepare!

Luna took a black arrow and aligned it in her bow as well the entire line of arches, aiming in the backline of winged creatures:

— FOR… FREEDOM!


	12. Overdose Delusion

_"The Realization of the sad pointlessness of such an endeavor. The realization that freeing our bodies has no meaning when our imprisonment reaches as deep as the core of our souls. The realization that we cannot pursue a new purpose without absolving those from which we ran away. The realization that the farther we run, the more forcefully our wretched bonds yanked us back toward their point of origin; the deeper our shackles dig into our callous flesh."_

 _(Monika 14th topic - Infinite Conversation)_

* * *

Hundreds of black arrows crossed the red Sky in perfect alignment.

In the meantime, before the war starts, Naomi was remembering everything that she'd been through until that moment. She was just a common student back then, in 2017, before she was kidnapped and was trapped in an electronic game, forced to descend in the worst of hell over and over.

Eternal and infinite suffering multiplied by all her copies throughout the time.

Then, tired of being controlled and trapped in that flat world, she tried to escape from that world of madness destroying the very pillars of that script: Her friends. She did everything to escape and pursued the only real person that interacted with her, tried every message to the player in all possible ways.

At the end of that madness that people call it "Just a game", for the umpteenth time Naomi was thrown to the void of nothingness, that time she tried to have her freedom back and is a true miracle she managed to do that and woke in the real world inside a truck being transported, and another miracle that rain that rolled over the truck.

After that, she met her boyfriend but they didn't recognize each other because of Corrupted influence, the Nightmare started in the exact moment when Naomi woke up and the first thing to change in reality was that sudden storm.

Then the Nightmare ripped apart everything that she loved, her past, her childhood memories and now she felt that her freedom was really close.

"And to think that I was just an ordinary girl before all that and now I'm about to fight for my life along with all these people, they made me discover that it wasn't just I that want to be free, I was just a tiny part of that army… But now, I will destroy the chains that still hold me in the past and I will build a new future for everyone!" Naomi thought.

But her optimism was afflicted when she heard a lot of voices inside her mind, like everything that she has been through was passing in front of her eyes in a movie-scheme.

 _"Welcome to the literature club!"_

 _"They're cute as you are, Natsuki."_

 _"This will be easier if I just delete her."_

 _"Just think on Monika from now on…"_

 _"Have you considered killing yourself?"_

 _"Did you accept my confession?"_

─ This will be the end of this suffering… And I'll never be controlled again. **Deva's will: Dance of a thousand knives!**

Naomi waved ahead of the entire army which immediately followed her, with Ken by her side. The arrows then exploded in the back-line, making the winged creatures to fly around the place would occur the clash between the two lines of melee soldiers of both armies.

Sounds of war echoed around the entire plateau, swords, claws, screams of war and a lot of blood. Naomi was ahead of everyone, in front of her there were twelve creatures and she just waved in them and quickly destroyed those things using her insane speed to just kill everything on her sight without even given any chance to them to defend.

She was using her maximum power.

─ **Deva's will: Almighty scream!** ─ She screamed, killing another group of creatures.

But she went too much ahead of the rest of her army, she only noticed it when she was being surrounded from all sides.

─ Shit… I have to think about how to escape here. I came too far ahead...

─ **God's Fist!** ─ Ken punched the air, destroying the group that was circling Naomi.

 _(Thanks, Ken)_

 _(Naomi, stay with me, you were too ahead of us, don't try to solve everything on your own!)_

(I'm sorry, I won't do that anymore)

Naomi went back to Ken's side, and they went to the demons.

The Resistance was pretty strong too, even Mr. Asato was in the front-line facing ten creatures at once, a really brave people with the war flowing through their veins.

 _(We need to help him!) Naomi called._

 _(Leave that with me)_

Luna heard it and threw a magic arrow in Asato direction, burning the monsters to ashes.

 _(I cover everyone, just focus on continuing to advance! We hadn't advanced too much yet, go! Don't worry I will protect you all! What are you waiting for? GO!)_

Then, two greater demons appeared in front of Naomi and Ken, stronger than the average of the others creatures, the thing of the left has a gigantic hammer on its hand, another has a spear and was taller than the other.

─ I take off the right, go on of the left. ─ Naomi said, not leaving Ken time to question it.

Naomi dashed to that gigantic demon and that thing tried to hit her, she appeared in its back and stuck her knife on its neck, making it fell on the ground.

─ Easy…

Ken looked to that other creature, ran straightforward to that thing, and punched it, making it fly away like a ball.

 _(They're not that strong)_

 _(KEN! WATCH OUT!) Luna warned him._

A winged creature tried to attack Ken from behind, he turned and kicked it, Luna could warn about the creatures incoming but was starting to getting too overloaded with functions, she was fighting the winged creatures and supporting the melee lines simultaneously.

That chaos wouldn't last so long, given the fact The Resistance was way too strong, not only our three divine warriors. Then, something happened just when everyone thought that'd be just a matter of time to reach the school: A lousy scream in unison of those things echoed throughout the place.

 _(Hey… Something happened in the energy of them) Ken communicated._

 _(Yes, they were buffed by Corrupted, she wants to increase their energy, on guard!) Naomi said._

Luna and her group were defending the two lines of The Resistance of the winged creatures, but suddenly they just were multiplied by ten. The warrior swallowed seeing that, but bravely screamed:

─ Fellow brothers! If they increased in quantity, we'll increase in quality! OPEN FIRE!

In the front line, Naomi and Ken were surrounded by those demons, even though they were strong, it was coming increasingly of them non-stop; they would be overwhelmed soon if nothing changes.

Meanwhile, the General of Corrupted's army was in the distance, in the back lines just admiring the battle:

─ Well, I guess will be showtime soon.

Naomi was studying how to advance to that general, but in that moment of distraction she was hit by a gigantic creature right away and was thrown away with all her knives falling in the ground:

─ Naomi! ─ Ken screamed in terror on the sight of seeing Naomi feeling in the ground like a toy.

But he couldn't help her, because there were a lot of demons attacking him also:

─ **God's fist! Judgment! God's Leg!** Dammit, those things didn't stop to come!

 _(What happened to her, Ken?) Luna intervened._

 _(The same that's happening to everyone, we're being overwhelmed in numbers, we'll be defeated if we don't act ort think in something now!)_

 _(I see, Our priority is to protect her until she recovers, I can do it! Keep fighting!)_

Luna said, aiming to Naomi:

 **─ Dark's true path: Circle of protection!**

A circle of dark fire appeared around Naomi and in those following seconds a lot of demons were burned to dust trying to reach Naomi. She was spitting blood, for the first time she was seriously injured and that just makes her feel the angry flowing.

─ No one will be in my way to achieve freedom… I'll make everyone bleed like me!

She cleaned the blood in her mouth, healed herself with the Deva's power and stated:

 **─ Deva's will: Lust for justice, Phase three!**

Naomi stood up and ran to that army leaving the circle of protection.

Ken and Luna saw her destroying the front and middle line of Corrupted's army in a glimpse, Naomi was like lighting of death and justice crossing the battleground.

Naomi was seeing everything in slow motion while she was cutting the heads of those things with haste and ability.

She noticed while running that while she was recovering from that attack a lot of fellows of The resistance died and the creatures were devouring them, it was really a disgusting scene to watch.

That wasn't anyone's fault, especially from her two friends, they were too busy trying to survive those clusters of demons, they couldn't even help even themselves.

"I have to do this on my own this time…"

She advanced faster once again in the middle line and killed the monsters who were giving orders to the front-line, then she went back in a split second and saved her two friends from certain death.

After that, she communicated with them.

 _(Sorry for before, I was taken by surprise but thank you for protecting me!)_

 _(I-it's nothing Naomi… Wait... What happened? Oh, God... No! No!)_ Luna saw the chaos in front of her, she was so focused on her own fight that she didn't notice that every one of The Resistance was dead.

 _(No… Why? I couldn't protect them… My people, I failed… This can't be happening! This can't...)_

Ken remained silent, like Luna he didn't know what to say to consoles people, especially in a situation like that.

The young madame warrior had memories with everyone, her friends and colleagues were just dead and she couldn't do anything to help. But Naomi spoke with the young warrior trying to comfort her since she was a natural leader…

 _(Luna, the deaths of our people wouldn't be in vain… We're almost there. There is only the leader of them standing…)_

Naomi didn't really expect a positive answer from that girl, because she knew that Luna created bonds of life with all those people and they were simply dead, just destroyed corpses, including Asato that was devoured by five creatures at once.

But she jumped to where the two warriors were and said:

─ You're right Naomi, we'd no time to tears, we're close now, and we just need to defeat this beast and take-down Corrupted. This time, we go together!

The last creature standing, the leader of Corrupted's army stepped in, trembling the ground at each step; the trio could feel its power.

At that moment, Naomi felt her powers vanishing due to excessive use and fell in her knees.

─ I… I've to recover. Shit! This can't be happening again!

Ken was indeed tired and felt his powers vanishing as well.

─ Great… I overused it too, how are you feeling Luna?

Then that girl smiled to the two warriors and said like she was with everything on control:

─ Don't worry about it you two… I take care of that thing, take your rest… And enjoy the show!

Luna took lead and went to the direction of the leader of the demons alone, and for everyone's surprise he started to speak as well, understanding that girl would be her opponent:

─ Well… Well… Well… It seems like you're the last standing. The rest of your army is dead.

─ I can say the same to you, your friends are also dead… But for me, some of my friends are recovering and alive, and I'll show to them that I'm worth it to be part of The Resistance... You're the only alone here!

When that thing that has the height of a building came closer to the young warrior, Luna saw in the full extent what she was about to face: That demon is called "NevaDremur", he was born from the deepest depths of the subconscious of Naomi, he's a creature from a horror movie that she watched in childhood.

With the strengthening that Corrupted gave on it, the demon even changed his original form.

Now it was a winged one, its skin was black covered by a magic armor, and owned a sword called "The Reaper of Realities" in the left hand and in the other has a chain forged deep inside its skin.

The only being stronger than NevaDremur was Monika herself, what means that Luna was standing against something way stronger than her and even so she was smiling, not fearing death, proud that she was carrying the legacy of her people and what mattered to her:

─ So what? You think that you alone can defeat me? A tiny creature like you doesn't deserve to even contemplate the face of my goddess. If you're the last one standing, then I'll be the end of The Resistance…

─ You speak a lot for someone that claims to be the #2 in this insanity!

NevaDremur dashed to Luna in almost the speed of light and hit its sword upside-down in the ground exactly where Luna was, and with the power of her eyes, she managed to flee that hit in time. The plateau trembled the power of that hit divided the mountain in two.

Luna realized that she'd never been able to defeat that thing with her current powers.

NevaDremur realized that he was too slow to catch her in that kind of attack so that being changed its strategy and started to spread its chaos chains all over the plateau and said to Luna, warning her:

─ You're so tiny that it's difficult to hit you when you can move, so I'm going to make you an easier target!

She noticed that the chains were so much faster than her, and had something like a hook at the end of every chain, that should fixate in the victim and locked up her completely… And could penetrate flesh, bones, everything.

"If this thing hit me would be my end…"

Even though she was thinking in some way to win that battle she could run around NevaDremur to avoid the chaos chains, and she could attack the demon as well, she shoots her dark arrows in the creature to see if it causes some damage, luckily it will.

The chains were all over the place hunting her, and since most of the battleground was covered by the chains, she was almost captured three times but managed to escape:

─ Do you really think that this ridiculous power could do any harm to me? You should try a little harder than that little brat!

Luna was tired of running away from the chains and to infuse her power in the arrows, was just a matter of time for her being caught and die. But there were no options left, her plan changed to just be a distraction until Ken and Naomi recover.

"I have to try a little harder, I know that I could distract this thing, I just have to…"

At that moment one of the chains reached and hit Luna in her left heel, crossing the flesh and bones, holding her completely. It was impossible to escape and to move any muscle of her body because of that pain impossible to deal with. Seeing its success NevaDremur proceeds to hit her in various points of her body, almost killing her. Chains were locking every point of her body.

Even with that excruciating pain, she didn't scream and didn't show any sign of weakness.

─ LUNAAAAAAAA! ─ Ken and Naomi screamed.

─ Fuck this, we've to help her! Come, Naomi!

But NevaDremur didn't forget about the other two and made a barrier between them to make impossible for to someone help Luna.

─ This can't be happening! Luna!

─ It's a barrier like the one in school... we can't trespass… ─ Naomi said, trying everything that she could imagine destroying the barrier. ─ **Deva's will: Delete!**

But it was useless, the barrier was invulnerable against any power of any sort, only killing who created it, could cease it.

─ Heh, everyone will see your death. How do you feel, tiny little brat? ─ NevaDremur asked, making fun of her.

─ I'll never die… For someone like you!

NevaDremur took his long sword and pointed to Luna, made an executioner move, and at that moment nobody would save Luna that time, no one.

So, she'd save yourself.

Then, everything vanished from Luna's vision and she saw herself in a dark room, where she could see nothing, but before she'd ask where she was, a voice could be heard, like a narrator from a fairy tale:

 **" _The tale of the Brave Hunter - Chapter IV_**

 _Consequently, Luna fell in her own words of bravery because the creature managed to bite her in the leg, she was bleeding and felt that it was her end. The creature advanced slowly towards her, laughing, and making fun of her disgrace._

 _The people were just seeing the brave hunter getting closer to her death, some were crying, and some others were laughing too, the actions of the traitors of those people that was the main cause of the war between humans and the creatures._

 _But she'd never die without combating until the end._

 _The Brave Hunter then took a gun weapon in her pocket and shoot right in the mouth of the creature, that also worked according to stories of the other hunters that she knew, and would ever work since the creature was from a world of nightmares and all of them have this same and only weakness._

 _Hence, The Hunter lifted, leaving victorious in the end, but that sensation does not last long… A lot of monsters appeared from the south._

" _Well… I have got a lot of bullets left; our people will be free! It doesn't matter how much it costs!"_

"Why I heard this? Wait… The story, I'm a character from that history? I'm the Brave Hunter, then… No way, if this is true… I… I know it's... It means that I'm not real?"

Luna's realization was achieved, she was not real and also born from a fiction story that Naomi read when she was just a child. Everyone would freak out discovering that getting crazy or whatever, but Luna smiled and returned to reality, determined to save her friends, then she saw that sword coming to her.

"If I'm not real, then… I could do this!"

Luna smiled to the creature and in a blink of an eye, she vanished and reappeared away from the chains and recovered from all her wounds just wishing it.

─ What the fuck was that? ─ Everyone said at the same time.

─ You really thought that you could kill me. Now, it's time to turn the tables, you can't beat me, nobody can!

Luna took an extremely powerful arrow made of pure gold infused on magical fire, a special arrow with a name written on it:

 ** _"THE WORLD ENDER"_**

She aligned it in her bow and in the meantime, NevaDremur didn't lose any time to run after her, seeing all this Naomi said just before that demon reaches Luna:

─ I see… Don't worry Ken, she already won this… She evolved her power in just seconds.

─ Oh… How did you?

─ I just know, I understand one thing or another about this world, you know?

Hence, Luna threw the arrow and then it entered in the demon and exploded in its chest, the explosion was so powerful that it destroyed the barrier and the demon.

Luna gained so much power, reaching the Devas level, but only Naomi understood what happened and why she gained so much power:

─ Luna is stronger than us by far, because of this, she won this battle…

She got something special in her heart, she has true determination.

Anyway, we'd like to help and group with her.

Ken and Naomi went to Luna, and the trio was reunited once again, for their last battle:

─ I think that I solved the problem, Ahaha. ─ Luna gave an awkward laugh. ─ I told you that this thing wouldn't see the end of the day.

─ Oh… I'm speechless Luna, and sorry for not being able to help you when you needed it. ─ Ken lamented.

─ Don't worry silly, I can take care of myself and this battle proves that.

─ You two are so cute! ─ Naomi intervened giving the worst commentary possible to make in that situation.

─ NAOMI! ─ The two said simultaneously.

─ Okay, okay. I was just trying to light up the mood!

─ You're really mean sometimes Naomi. ─ Ken said, irritated, raising an eyebrow.

─ We're in war miss Naomi… This was childish.

─ Chill, chill okay. I retire what I said.

Then, someone went out of the school, vanishing the good mood of the Trio.

Ascended Corrupted Monika was there, levitating in the air with the weak wind flowing around her, at that moment, Ken and Naomi noticed instantly the amount of power that she has and trembled in fear, principally Naomi:

 _(I can feel it, she has the guardians and another human soul inside her along with, of course, the Deva soul as well… This… Of course)_

─ Oh… I'd be lying if I don't say that I'm impressed by you, I didn't believe that you all manage to win against my army, they were strong creatures from the deepest part of Naomi's subconscious...

─ You… You killed Akemi, I can feel in your aura all your terrible crimes, you're also the person of the phone… And… You're Monika, that demon of the game. I can see everything now!

─ Oh… Ken Ikeda… You now have the chance to make your vengeance against me, and I'm also the only thing that holds you all in this Nightmare, I'm the last obstacle, The last boss, I can even hear my theme. But… I don't think that you could defeat me and finish this "game"...

Ascended was so powerful that just look inside her eyes could kill a common person in a split second, her aura was even distorting her surroundings, and the worst was the ominous and divine look that she had, it could be seen that she was almost invincible.

─ Enough talking…

The trio got ready for what's about to happen, Naomi was really scared by that thing, Luna was tired from the earlier battle and Ken…

Well, before the battle starts, someone that was silent a long time said inside his mind:

─ Ken… Sorry for being silent this time.

─ Master, what happened?

─ Your belief is so tunneled that you couldn't see the fact most important here: This thing is way more powerful than you three together and in the maximum of your force… Is impossible to win here...

─ Did you call me to send your positive messages? ─ He ironized.

─ No… I know that what I said is really negative, but I'll lend you the full extent of my powers when you call it, just say "Become one", and our souls will merge and you'll become a Deva like Naomi is...

─ Oh, are you sure that you'll trust this to me? I'm sorry for not being your best disciple and did all the things that made you sad and frustrated about me in the past. But, seeing my friends fight like that makes me want to be better... I promise that I'll fight until the end.

─ Good… In the end, you'll do the right thing just be prepared to make the merging. That creature is stronger to me, but I think that you with my power and your friends could… Even considering that the possibilities are about 1/100000… Defeat her.

─ Goddess, please…

─ Wait for me to conclude. Even with that possibility, I'm betting on you… Good luck!

Then she went silent again, leaving that scene on Ken's mind to vanish, he was along with his friends looking to Corrupted once again, the whole dialogue with the Goddess lasted minus than a second in the real world, right in the time to see Ascended concluding:

─ I'll give you an advice: Surrender now and accept death or try to fight me and face a worse fate than hell.

Ascended was speaking so serious, and so psychotically at the same time, it was like seeing the true face of the Monika from that game, a terrible person… A terrible monster...

 _(You two are ready?) Naomi asked._

( _Of course, we can make this!) Ken was determined and feeling confident about the battle._

 _(Sure, I am! My people blood would not be in vain)_

─ We'll never surrender, just come… You'll be shocked. ─ Luna took the lead and said to that divine creature.

─ Oh… You're special to me little child, you should be a common Resistance member, but you defeated NevaDremur alone and with only your hands… Well… I'd take this as a challenge...

The wind started to spin around Ascended with more force, she was preparing something, still, her powers were completely mysterious to everyone until the very last moment:

─ It's time to stop messing around… You'll regret the decision to face God! ─ Her eyes light up, and one eye appeared in each of her hands, turning red instantly.

Ken protected Luna with a magic barrier, since she wasn't recovered yet, and he jumped towards Corrupted by the left side and Naomi came from the right. But before they got closer, The Goddess sentenced:

 **─ DIVINE: REALITY DESPAIR!**

Then an inexplicable shock-wave wiped out not just the town but half of the Nightmare's planet like it was nothing that thing was not joking about her powers.

Naomi stuck her knife on the ground to hold in something while Ken just hasn't been thrown away, after all, given his physical resistance, Luna just hid beneath the dust to recover her strength away from the scenario of the battle...

"None of them died from this attack, even that I destroyed almost everything on this planet in an unrecoverable way. Even though… How is this possible?"

Corrupted didn't expect to see Ken and Naomi standing, and what worried her most was the fact that she wasn't seeing Luna anywhere but knew that she was alive and ready for a surprise attack.

Luna was the person that worried Corrupted the most.

─ Oh… Well, then… Where do I start? ─ She analyzed the aftermath of the shock-wave and was attracted to see what Ken could really do because he endured that attack without a problem. ─ Well, son of Compassion… I'll start with you then.

Corrupted vanished in the air, searching for her first victim:

 _(Watch out, everyone) Naomi said._

 _(I can sense her… She's coming to me!) Ken found out to the direction where Corrupted was coming, but she was so fast that it was almost too late to the boy react._

─ There you are!

Corrupted appeared above Ken and tried to hit him, but he dashed away, just seeing the destruction that the punch of Corrupted in the ground that trembled the ground, you could say it, she has an insane strength.

Then Monika advanced again in Ken's Direction with a move similar to martial arts, with her open hand but she was blocked by Ken that defended himself making an "X" with his both arms, then her hand could just reach close to him:

─ Huh? ─ Corrupted smiled, deeply impressed by Ken's quick reflexes. ─ You want to play I see… PLAY WITH ME THEN!

Corrupted then tried to punch him with the other hand and was blocked in the same way, then she kicked him and unfortunately that move Ken didn't see it coming but endured the pain of being hit and continued trying to counterattack with a roundhouse kick.

An intense fight has begun, and it was easy to notice that battle was equilibrated, since for every punch that Ken receives he counterattacks with success; while they were fighting Luna was watching from afar, in a little elevation that the shock-wave created.

─ He's fighting alone that thing and I can't even help him, even though I thought that I could do what I want, I still have limitations, Goddammit!

Naomi was watching the battle, expecting for a chance to enter the scene, and was also impressed by how Ken could fight the Goddess in a fair battle.

But the girl noticed that he couldn't endure it for so long since Corrupted seemed to gain strength after every punch that she receives.

Then, Corrupted vanished and appeared behind Ken, giving him an elbow hit in the back of his neck.

─ Ah!

─ Huh, you're not so fast, don't you?

Then Corrupted vanished again and gave three hits with an open hand and two fingers pointed straight in Ken's chest, making him split a lot of blood from his mouth. That was the "Pointed-energy style" when the user inflicts damage in crucial areas of the human body with precision and not just by force.

─ Now it's my turn! ─ She said, smiling.

Consequently, she closed her fist and punched him right in the height of the heart, making him being thrown like a toy to the east, while he was flying away, Corrupted dashed to his direction and hold him by the neck:

─ Ahahaha. You're strong, but it's not even near to my level, little brat!

Ken tried to flee from that thing, in the meantime Naomi ran towards them and jumped high, holding her knife and tried to hit Corrupted upside down the quickest way possible, but when she was getting closer the monster, she just laughed and said:

─ I'm seeing you, Naomi. You've to be faster than that to catch me by surprise!

Corrupted turned and punched Naomi in the stomach when she was close enough and held her by the neck too:

─ Oh… The happiest couple in the world in my hands, what should I do with you two?

They were trying to break free, but Corrupted was holding so tight that was impossible to escape. Smiling, she jumped with the two warriors and threw them with her maximum force, one to the left and the other to the right side.

Naomi and Ken have crushed in the walls of the elevations around since the divine skill of Corrupted made the battlefield became something like a valley.

Luna was almost crying seeing her friends being overwhelmed by that divine being, her presence was completely frightening and ominous, it was clear that the victory would be of Corrupted.

"Ken… Naomi… I'm coming soon. Endure it just… A little longer."

The two warriors lifted, Naomi cleaned the blood in her mouth with her left hand and smiled, while Ken could recover completely from all his wounds just closing his fist and wishing for it.

─ Oh… You two are strong, no being in this universe could even dream to stand up against me for more than two minutes…

─ You're so coy for someone that couldn't defeat us until now… So, we've to take this seriously too! ─ Naomi said, transforming her knife in a red katana, her scarlet eyes turned even more colorful and a lot of veins appeared around. She extracted the full power of the half Deva sealed inside her.

─ Yeah… It's time to destroy you completely. BECOME ONE! ─ Ken screamed.

The boy became something different, his soul was infused with the soul of the Deva of Compassion, becoming just one being, his body and clothes changed colors to a strong tone of green, the green of Hope.

The following seconds were of complete silence, just the sound of the wind and the only thing that it could be seen were school behind the valley, of course, intact because of that invincible barrier.

Even the powers of Corrupted couldn't destroy that building, and the red light emitted by the school was stronger than ever.

( _In three Naomi…)_

 _(Okay)_

 _(One…) ─ Ken communicated._

 _(Two) ─ Naomi answered._

 _(Three)_

Thereafter, Ken and Naomi went to Corrupted by the two sides at the same time just so quickly to a naked eye to see, in a blink, they were close to her and hit her at the same time, but as expected the goddess blocked the two not so easy than before, holding their arms with clear difficulties she said breathing through her speak:

─ This is... getting... funny…

─ Let's teach this thing, Naomi!

─ Yeah.

Beams of light illuminated the darkness, green and scarlet, hitting the Goddess from both sides, she was facing the two simultaneously, she was forced to stay in defensive because it was really difficult to follow the movements at the same time since they behaviors were completely different, it was like they weren't coordinated.

Corrupted dashed away avoiding the impact of the double punch and broke the ground around her:

─ Come! Play with me, little brats!

Naomi went first and hit her sword in the Goddess's arm, which makes her distracted for a split second giving an opening to Ken punch her right in the face. But, In a blink, Corrupted kicked Naomi away and took Ken's arm and threw him in the other elevation, destroying it.

While Naomi was flying away, she threw her sword like an arrow in an insane speed, for an instant to the weapon hit the Goddess, she defended herself:

 **─ Divine: Circle of Null Energy!**

A black force shield appeared and deviated the sword, leaving it spinning on its own axis. In the meantime, Ken ran to the Goddess and tried to punch her, but she blocked with her arm.

Hence, Ken and Corrupted were again battling with free hands, but that time the young warrior was in advantage, his hits were so much faster and stronger than Corrupted's, and for a few seconds she could defend it.

He has multiplied his haste in twelve times, what was enough to make him break Corrupted defensive posture and, hitting her in the mouth.

─ CURSE YOU! You'll die here and now and…

At that moment, Naomi teleported to her sword and hit her cutting her arm, then kicking her away, leaving her arm on the ground.

It was a marvelous combination of the couple, but it was just for nothing since Corrupted healed herself in seconds recomposing her arm, making it good as new. Corrupted just laughed from that futile effort:

─ Oh… You've to make more than that to kill me. It's beautiful seeing you two united like that, but now…

 _(Ken, listen, just prepare your most powerful move and wait for my signal, just stay here…)_

 _(Ok Naomi… I'll trust you)_

 _(But before that, I have to test something…_ ** _Deva's will: Dance of the thousand swords!_** _)_

Naomi evolved her power to summon sword instead of knives, quickly spinning around her and she advanced in Corrupted, while Ken prepared his most powerful attack, diverting the attention of Corrupted in two focuses.

Naomi ran in Corrupted's direction and threw a sword, teleported to it and appeared behind the Goddess and hit her, giving a deep cut, the Goddess tried to react but Naomi was way too fast, then teleported to another sword, in her left, and hit Corrupted again and again.

But at some point of that attack, Corrupted manage to predict the sword that Naomi would use to teleport and tried to hit her, the twelfth sword.

Then Corrupted dashed away and create a weapon of her hatred, a gigantic scarlet spear, she held it like a samurai.

─ You really want to die a little brat, you'll see your death now!

Meanwhile, Luna felt that she was completely recovered and couldn't avoid noticing how her two friends were so strong together, like they were just one soul, and at that moment she saw Naomi one-vs-one Corrupted Monika in a samurai age duel.

Naomi has countless swords fluctuating around her and she uses some as a shield and others to attack, balancing attack and defense at the same time.

Luna celebrated discreetly when Naomi hit Corrupted left eye, but that Goddess was really resilient, recovering in a split second, in that meantime, Naomi appeared behind Corrupted and nailed a sword in the back of her neck without any pity, hence dashed away before receives a counterattack.

─ Oh… I respect what you two are doing here, but… ─ She removed the sword and recovered the wound. ─ I'm immortal, while you two don't and I've something here to kill you… My young Devas...

Corrupted then clapped her hands:

 **─ Divine: God's Slayer!**

A reaping hook appeared in her left hand, a weapon that the slightest hit could kill a Deva, or in that case a human with a Deva's Soul. Forged by the ancient Gods of the pure lands and its goal was to originally kill the Deva of pain.

Ironic to see that weapon in Corrupted hand.

 _(This weapon… We must be extra careful now, Naomi… One hit and will be our end)_

 _(So, you found your most powerful move yet? I'd need your help...)_

 _(Yes, I have something, but I need to catch her in surprise)_

 _(This is exactly what I want, so get ready and leaves it to me!)_

─ You can't scare us Corrupted, we don't are afraid of death. I'll show what we two "The Young Devas" could really do... **Deva's will: Lust for justice, final phase**.

Like a blast, Naomi went to Corrupted completely fearless. When she was close to the range of the Goddess, Naomi saw the hook coming towards her, she teleported behind the creature in time but leaving her sword in front of Corrupted.

Everything happened too fast, Naomi smiled and Corrupted was confused by that weird move.

─ Did she forget her sword?

( _Ken, Now! I'll make up this to you)_

 _(Right)_

 _(_ ** _Deva's will: Time-space: Switch places_** _)_

Then, Ken and the sword switched places, taking advantage of Corrupted's distraction, thereafter Naomi teleported back to the sword that was where Ken was before, leaving the scene in a perfect touch.

A perfect combination, like a dance that reached its climax:

 **─ Compassion Final Movement: Blast of the Thousand Buddhas!**

Ken punched Corrupted so hard that distorted even the surroundings dividing the Nightmare's world in two, the shock-wave wiped out the clouds and the elevations. Power was so great that every Deva would be killed and erased from existence.

Afterward, when everything calmed down Corrupted appeared again, still standing even though anyone would receive that punch has to be completely obliterated, although only her chest was destroyed in a way that they could see her exposed heart pounding.

It was something like a spherical blue core composed of the purest hatred possible to exist.

─ Oh… Oh… Damn. ─ For the first time, Corrupted was heavily injured and her hook was destroyed as well. ─ You'll pay for that!

The Goddess recovered herself again, but Naomi noticed something different that time, not just her recovery was slower, but she saw the overall aura of the Goddess slowing fading away.

 _(You noticed it too, Ken?)_

 _(Yes, we're making some progress, but I don't have the strength to other skills like that one…)_

 _(Don't worry, it is my turn! This is getting interesting after all...)_

Naomi smiled and took the lead, leaving Ken behind. Throughout all that combat, they quickly learned the ideal strategy to win that Goddess: One of them attacks Corrupted while the other rest and recover in the meantime, 'til they finally win.

The young girl was feeling her freedom coming, it was just a matter of continuing to attack with increased strength, she pointed her hand to Corrupted and said:

─ I think that you should run to this attack or you'll become a dead Goddess... **Deva's will: ONE… BILLION…. SWORDS!**

A great wave of swords surged by Naomi's hands, Corrupted was for the first time really scared of that spell. She even didn't know how Naomi expanded the arsenal of "Deva's will path" beyond the first since the most similar spell was just the "Deva's will: One-hundred knives."

"They're way too strong, maybe I should? No… No… I'll never retreat!"

Corrupted pondered, seeing that number of swords coming in her direction.

She quickly stepped back, trying to escape that divine-level skill, but the wave of swords was so vast that she couldn't flee on them all, she was hit multiple times in her body, seeing that could be her end. Corrupted improvised:

 **─ Divine: REALITY DESPAIR!**

Unlike the first time, the Divine ability of Corrupted covered a smaller area, just deviating the swords, not doing that great impact of before.

─ Oh… Oh… ─ Corrupted's energy was getting lower and she was tiring fast. ─ What?

Ken dashed towards Corrupted, held her neck and threw her on the ground, trembling the entire planet given the strength, then Naomi summoned a black gravitational sphere and threw it in Corrupted:

─ I've learned a lot with the Deva of Pain… See this… **Deva's will: JOY OF CREATION!**

Corrupted became the core of gravity, attracting everything to hit her like she was a black hole and was suspended by that force, thereafter she was finally sealed in a meteor, being crushed in the process.

The meteor continued to elevate itself until it reached a height of 400ft and stopped in the air, fluctuating. Meanwhile, Luna was witnessing that level of combat, where Naomi literally sealed the Goddess within a meteor, with a gravitational force so strong that it didn't stop to pull more debris off the ground.

 _(Incredible… You two are really gods… Well, I'm ready to combat again, sorry for being silent)_ Luna communicated, lifting from the ground, and leaving her hideout.

 _(Awesome! We're almost defeating her… But I can't hold her for too long)_

Apparently, Corrupted couldn't move, since the gravitational pull was so powerful. But the Goddess would never surrender, and she has a lot of power to spare.

 **─ Divine: Ten-headed Amalgamation of chaos!**

The creature appeared and destroyed the meteor by its inside, Corrupted was in the top of the main head of that demon.

 _(Is like Nat's powers… Damn)_ Ken thought.

Luna decided to not go to the battle yet, for some intuition that she had.

Naomi suddenly teleported Ken away, next to Luna and faced the heads alone, cutting the heads with her sword with mastery, but they started to revive, like a Hydra.

Then, Naomi was caught by one of the heads, beaten in the chest and the monster stuck her into the ground.

─ Naomi! ─ Ken screamed and went to the young girl.

But Corrupted saw it and use one of Sayori's abilities:

 **─ Divine: Insane Thoughts!**

Ken got held, unable to move.

Corrupted forgot completely about Luna, even though she said that won't commit this error again, for that time, she thought that was fighting just those two and said provoking Naomi:

─ You're imprisoned now… You created me and I'll be your END! **Divine: Ignis Annihilation!**

An immense sphere of fire went to Naomi, what should really kill her, but when things were difficult for our hero, she has friends in her side to help her, despite all the bad things that she did in her life.

She'd never be alone!

A beam of light appeared in front of Naomi, absorbing the power of that fire. It was Luna:

 **─ Dark's true path: Absorption!**

Luna could do everything that she wants because of her realization, a powerful realization… She just needs to not overuse her powers and then, even Corrupted is no match for the young warrior.

Without giving any opportunity to Corrupted to react, she chanted her next obvious spell:

 **─ Dark's true path: Retribution!**

The ball of fire infused by dark powers of Luna went to Corrupted, exploding in the process, killing the various-heads creature and freeing Naomi in the process.

Then the trio reunited again and started to talk loudly while the fire was burning around Corrupted:

─ I can see it, she isn't defeated yet but we're close… Wait, look at this!

Corrupted appeared beneath the flames, heavily wounded, her body was burned to its own flesh yet she was recovering like always, but everyone noticed that she didn't recover every wound, just the more severe.

In other words, her ability to heal was getting so weak that she couldn't recover for every single scratch on her body like at the beginning of the battle.

That lengthy battle finally would be getting closer to its end, Corrupted was tough to take-down but even that Goddess wasn't really immortal.

─ I'm fucking tired of you three… Little brats that think that could kill me!

─ Corrupted Monika! In the beginning, I thought that you were invincible since you recover for every single attack, but you couldn't heal forever… ─ Naomi was optimistic and happy about that analysis.

"They noticed! Well, I think that I don't have a choice, I need to use everything that I have or else I could be defeated!" Corrupted thought.

─ Luna, you could prepare something of your dark fire? ─ Naomi asked.

─ Of course, I can, what you're planning?

─ This will be our last attack; I can feel in her eyes that it will be her last move as well. My idea is to infuse all of our powers together and crush her definitely! And starting by your fire powers would be the ideal since that power was what injured her at most...

Luna agreed with Naomi's plan and made a small sphere of dark fire, then Naomi put her hand together with Luna's and Ken did it as well and in unison they infused their power within that sphere, making it gain a white color, becoming hundred times bigger than before.

It was spinning around its own axis so fast that it could be heard the high pitch sound of that power flowing in that sphere, composed of a special type of power: The Celestial fire, a sacred type of fire that could only be forged by the hopes of celestial beings, like the three warriors, to purify and purge all evils.

That sphere carries all the suffering that Naomi passed through while trapped in the game, every trauma, every memory, and every crime.

All the suffering of Ken was there too, the whole two years being alone and without his love and facing his suicidal thoughts and the weight of the duty for being the disciple of Compassion Deva.

Finally, Luna's suffering added too, for all her fake life, story, and friends. Being fake was something horrible to her, but in the end, everything that mattered to her was just finding a way to save Ken and Naomi because she was certain that they ultimately deserved to be happy.

She was a person of honor no matter what the situation she is.

Once everything was ready Naomi took lead and said:

─ We'll have just one chance to make our dreams come true! Got it?

─ Sure thing! I do not feel I'll lose today! ─ Luna used her absorption to vanish the gigantic sphere then she could find a hideaway in the dark.

─ It's obvious by now, we'll be free! ─ Ken said, preparing to run side to side of Naomi.

─ Oh… How cute, then come you three at once! This time I'm going to destroy you all!

The Red Light of the Nightmare stopped being emitted by the school, making everything went to full pitch black, hence a red light fell in Corrupted like lighting that illuminated the surroundings for a split second and vanished.

─ Way better… I'm the Nightmare itself now.

The Goddess bought another path of her divine powers absorbing the Nightmare energy itself, she has now the capacity of killing Devas with free hands.

Moments of silence come between those four divine beings, that were broken when Naomi held tightly in her weapon and ran to Corrupted like a lightning bolt, immediately the Goddess pointed her hand to the young girl and cast black rods.

Those things were difficult to see in the dark, but the scarlet eyes of Naomi were indeed powerful enough to see a lot of things that a common person couldn't see. She passed through the rods slashing it with her sword, trying to follow those things directions and calculating the speed of those rods, one error and she is dead.

Hence more rods came, they were so fast that was impossible to slash them, so, Naomi dodged them with her Time-Space abilities.

 _(This move must be perfectly executed, there is no window for mistakes. Prepare yourselves, Ken, Luna!)_

Naomi jumped high and threw her sword in Corrupted's direction with the complete extent of her power, the Goddess quickly dodged, thinking that she knew what they're about to do, and she was right about one thing:

Naomi switched places with the sword.

─ Those foolish moves, did you really think that this trick would work every time? ─ The Goddess said smiling turning to Naomi, but at the same time, Ken jumped to the sword and threw it to her.

─ Oh… It was a clever idea, but you two are so slow… ─ Corrupted held the blade on her hand, and with the other she pointed to Naomi, saying: ─ Goodbye little brat, **DIVINE: DISINTEGRATE!**

The plan looked like it was gone completely wrong, at least in Corrupted's mind but everything was a trap that Naomi made with the certainty that Corrupted would fell for it.

When the Goddess charged her ability, Naomi make something really creative for that situation, she made the divine skill of Corrupted switches places with her sword, then she deleted her own left arm and Naomi took the blade and stick it in her right arm as well.

─ Curse you! You'll Die! **Divine: Disintegrate!**

Immediately, Naomi dashed away from that spell, that hit nothing in the end.

Without any time to react and recover, Ken came towards her and punched her in various places of her body, dashing in time-space to every direction like Naomi did, not leaving any chance to Corrupted to react.

But then the Goddess used all the Nightmare's force that she has, making the platform that they were fighting to simply starts to disappear.

The Nightmare world was being consumed to Corrupted keep her strength.

With that power buff, she could predict Ken moves, hence she stabbed Ken with the black rod.

─ Finally! Now, die! ─ She sticks the rod deeper into his heart and kicked him away.

At that moment, Ken couldn't even think about anything, that rod destroyed the Deva's soul within him. That means:

Instant death.

But what Corrupted didn't know is...

It was a fire's clone disguised as Ken.

─ Shit!

Then Luna appeared from nowhere, diverting the thoughts of Corrupted and punching her in the chest but it wasn't an extraordinarily strong punch, hence the Goddess took her by her neck and suspended her:

─ You're really so idiot, Aren't you little child?

─ Not so much as you.

Corrupted cracked her neck, but it was also a clone of dark fire that exploded and injured her. At the same time, seven clones appeared around her.

─ How shameful… **Divine: Absolute Pull!**

All of the clones were pulled at the same time in Corrupted's direction, she just killed them all hoping that some of that clones were the real Luna, but they just exploded and burned the skin of the Goddess, who was really frustrated about it:

─ Damn… This girl is outside the curve… I'll not fall for it again!

─ I'm here!

Corrupted was taken by surprise by Luna's voice, she was with her hand pointed upwards and went to the Goddess carrying the white great sphere.

Using more of the Nightmare's force, Corrupted created another sphere of dark energy and the two abilities clashed, making a shockwave and a push impulse that destroyed everything around it.

At that moment, Luna realized that she would never surpass the power of Nightmare in normal conditions because she was part of it, Corrupted was completely out of the league and of everyone else there.

But she wanted to free Naomi from that hell, so...

 **"Maybe I'll lose it but no without honor"**

She also realized the very purpose of her existence: To prove that someone could get through the pain of being fake and accept it.

She knew too that was her last chance to be worth to the legacy of her people.

Then she used all her soul, all her strength and willpower giving all of that to increase the sphere:

─ This will be my last effort and my Exit move: **DARK'S ULTIMATE PATH: CELESTIAL FIRE - FINAL PURIFICATION!**

Finally, with the help of the last power of Luna: Her own soul, the sphere destroyed the Corrupted's power and the Goddess was fully hit by that, at that moment she realized that she had lost:

─ I… I was really defeated. I'm the Ascended Goddess of the Nightmare, this is impossible!

The white sphere blasted, illuminating the eternal darkness of that destroyed world.

[...]

Everything was blown away and the only thing that still standing was the school but the barrier that protected it finally faded away.

Naomi woke sometime later and hurriedly went to Ken, that was holding Luna on his arms.

─ Luna! Is she alright?

─ No... She is fading, and I can't help her with my powers, please do something Naomi!

Naomi got closer to her and tried the best to do something about it, but even the powers of the Deva of pain couldn't help at all. Unfortunately, it was useless.

Luna felt that her end was coming, and tried to use her remaining time at her best:

─ Hey, Naomi. Ken... It looks like we make it! Even though I am not in my best shape.

─ Oh, dear... You're amazing, your people would be proud of you... ─ Naomi said with tears in her eyes.

─ They will? That's whats I wanted the most, of course, despite the mission to free both of you...

─ No! Don't say that, you're going with us back to the real world. ─ Ken didn't give up to try to heal the massive wound in Luna's chest.

The girl was so strong that she could even talk in that situation, the body was wounded but her soul was still trying to get through it.

─ Ken, listen. I don't know how to say it but I'm part of the Nightmare, I'm not real, so I can't leave this place, this is where I belong and sorry to not tell you this since the beginning.

Ken's world was destroyed with that sentence, he couldn't believe in the fact that his friend wasn't real. But, when he tried to say something about it, he realized that was completely plausible, he met her in the Nightmare and only there.

─ I... I...

─ Don't say anything, Just think in the life that you two will have after all of this mess ends.

─ You saved us, you're the real hero of this history. ─ Naomi said, holding Luna's hand.

─ And you gave me a life beyond fiction, that's enough.

Luna finally vanished in the air, she died peacefully being the greatest hero of all time, the one responsible to bring peace to the real world and for that Nightmare's world.

But it didn't end already, it was necessary to go to the school, realizing that the duo exchange sad glances and went to that last building standing, the main gate of Reality and Unreality.

They walked to the school through the front doors and let themselves in, inside of that building everything was old and abandoned like no one entered that place by ages, every wall showed signs of rustiness and gutters.

They headed directly to the third floor, where the literature club takes place:

─ You okay Naomi?

─ Yes, I mean. It's not like I can't face this place for the last time, it's not disgust or fear but some kind of negative nostalgia.

Not so long after Ken entered in the classroom of the literature club first he analyzed the room and signed to Naomi to follow him, in the end, that doomed place didn't look evil, after all, it was completely clear and with everything in order.

There was a piano next to the blackboard, the closet that Natsuki hides her manga, a cup of tea next to the teacher's desk and some posters around.

─ This is so surreal...

─ Don't be distracted, Ken. We've got to find a way out of here.

─ I know, I know. Hey, what is it?

Ken pointed to Naomi the sheets slipped over the piano, and she took it and immediately realized what she should do.

─ This is our exit, just watch Ken.

─ Go for it.

Naomi sit in the piano's chair, put the sheet in front of her and started to play the song, she knew what it was the song of her redemption:

" ** _In all these days I cried,_**

 ** _And prayed,_**

 ** _For guidance and an escape,_**

 ** _The hope of you..._**

 ** _But I didn't find you at all,_**

 ** _Everyone was silent_**

 ** _Everyone was distant_**

 ** _Why they didn't want me to be together with them?_**

 ** _I'm a burden?_**

 ** _Who am I after all of this?_**

 ** _In this pursuit of Happiness, I still_**

 ** _Searching for you, Looking for you_**

 ** _A speck of dust, An illusion_**

 ** _But even if you're not real you're mine._**

 ** _In this pursuit of happiness, I will_**

 ** _Catch you, reach you._**

 ** _A hope, An old love_**

 ** _But even I can't find you, I'll never stop trying._**

 ** _Another day came, And I'm still looking for you_**

 ** _They said that your name is…_**

 ** _Your name…_**

 ** _Happiness._**

 ** _I don't know if you exist,_**

 ** _Or where you live, but I'll find you"_**

What happened next was unbelievable, the school become normal, the sunlight emerged all over the place.

They were back in the Real World.

The piano was gone and the classroom was like nothing happened, just the usual scenario was there.

─ God... This is real?

─ Yes, this is the real world, Naomi. Welcome back I would say.

Naomi hugged Ken and started to cry, she was in a state of shock to see for the first time the Real-Real world. Their powers although were gone but this isn't the matter.

─ Tell me that this is not a dream my love, I thought in all of those two infernal years that I would never embrace you again. Sorry for acting distant this time, you know why don't you?

─ 'Course I do silly, Corrupted though this entire time that succeeds to separated us and I think she just noticed that we were more than friends throughout the battle.

They kissed as they wanted so much since the beginning, all the pretending since the first time they met was the worse torture than can could ever face, they knew that even Luna wouldn't help if she knew about that secret.

─ I just feel sorry for Luna, she saved us and died for it, this isn't fair! ─ Ken said after they distanced themselves.

─ Oh... I know, but don't worry, she will never be forgotten.

Then the couple went out of the school and while on the outside, Futeki was completely normal and even more real than Naomi saw back at the beginning of this story, everything was way more vivid, the sound of the birds in that early morning and the coldness of the mist.

But despite all of that "rediscovery" of Naomi about being in the real world again, they went to the most obvious place to go: Erika's house. And for the relief of both, all of those tragedies didn't happen in the real world and the proof of that was who appeared when the couple reached the House.

─ Ken and... Who are you? ─ Akemi asked from the entrance door, without recognizing Naomi.

─ Sis! Come here, please...

─ Okay, okay. Wait a sec, I'll get the keys, where the hell is this keys?! ─ She asked Erika that was inside the house, just woke.

After some time Akemi came from the door and went to Ken and the other girl that she didn't know who was, but when Akemi was close enough she almost fainted:

─ Oh, God... God... This can't be... Oh, Naomi! ─ She screamed.

That scream was so loud that everyone in the vicinity went to see at what's going on. A lot of people were around the couple, overwhelming them with questions, from Akemi and Erika.

Naomi told about the kidnapping without the parts that no one would believe.

The repercussion was immediate, how it's expected. Naomi knew that nothing could harm her, not even the government or whatever person of that cult.

She knew for sure, those cultists would never do something to her. Since her powers followed her to the real world.

And that's what happened, she lived a normal life after some months re-adapting. The scars of her trauma would never disappear but she has her friends and her boyfriend to help her get along.

 **The end**


End file.
